India may be the first foreign buyer of Russia’s most advanced S-500 ‘Prometei’ anti-aircraft missile system, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yury Borisov told the RBC TV Channel on Monday.
"Beyond a doubt, once we deliver this system to our troops, India will be the first on the list, if it expresses its desire to buy these advanced armaments," the deputy PM said, replying to a question about whether India would be the first country to purchase the Russian-made S-500.
The Russian vice-premier also said that he disagreed with the conclusions by experts of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) that the largest Russian weapon producers had seen the sales of their armaments dwindle on the global arms market, TASS reported.
"In this context, I do not agree with their conclusions because they fail to take into account many things that I know about. Secondly, our statistical data suggest that we have a stable book of long-term contracts topping $50 billion while $13-15 billion has been our annual export figure lately. Our leading importers have long-term contracts with us," the Russian deputy PM stressed.
