Russia, India no longer using U.S. dollars in arms deals payments

NEW DELHI. Dec 7 (Interfax) - Russia is no longer using the U.S. dollar in mutual transactions as part of arms deals, including with India, Rosoboronexport head Alexander Mikheyev told reporters.

"By tradition, we give the price of all deals in dollars for the ease of calculations. However, in its real work, Rosoboronexport has almost completely stopped using the American currency in transactions," Mikheyev said.

When using national currencies, there is no risk of delays of payments under contracts, he said.

"As regards India, all mutual payments are handled in rubles and in rupees. Besides, we are actively using offset projects, which also exist in the contracts that we signed today. It is normal modern practice. It is one of the world market's trends," Mikheyev said.

India is one of the main buyers of Russian weapons. Russia's current book of weapons orders placed by India stands at around $15 billion. In all, India has ordered Russian weapons worth approximately $70 billion since 1991, Russia's Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation said.