Rogozin opposed to industrial assembly policy in defense sector
NOVOSIBIRSK. April 4 (Interfax) - The defense sector can boost the Russian economic growth amid the global economic turmoil, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said.
"In fact, only the defense sector and affiliated industries give a serious reason for optimism against the backdrop of a profound global economic crisis," Rogozin said at a conference dedicated to the defense sector's development and state defense orders in Novosibirsk on Friday.
For example, the defense sector can spur the growth of the entire machine building industry, he said. "Russia cannot acquire a new image without industrialization," Rogozin pointed out.
He suggested that the defense sector should think about a shift to "the mobilization track" under the current foreign political circumstances, the deputy prime minister said.
"Following the events in Ukraine and Crimea, we are being spooked and threatened with sanctions by countries with which we maintain various kinds of relations, in particular, have contracts, so we should rely on our own resources in the first turn and quit the industrial assembly policy, which I deem harmful," he said.
The Russian administration is looking for ways to rapidly respond to the new situation, he said. "It is better to depend on domestic products and the production of everything our defense industry and the Russian Armed Forces may need," Rogozin indicated.
He is also confident that Russia should substitute imports with domestic products in every critical technology.