Russia to rid dependence on Ukrainian military suppliers

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Tuesday that a large number of armaments used to be manufactured in cooperation with Ukrainian enterprises should be replaced by the end of this year, a sign that Russia plans to shrug off its dependence on Ukraine suppliers.

"Nearly 700 titles of components for armaments and military hardware, originally produced in cooperation with Ukrainian enterprises, will have to be substituted by the end of 2015," the minister was quoted as saying by Tass news agency.

Russian President Vladimir Putin approved the plans for replacing Ukrainian-made component parts in the summer of 2014, and expressed his confidence that Russia would be able to find import substitution financially and technically.

Meanwhile, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Borisov said the Russian defence industries are prepared to offer alternatives to most components originally imported from Ukraine.

"By late 2015, we will almost stop being dependent on Ukrainian manufacturers and around 70 or 80 percent of components will be substituted," he was quoted by Tass as saying.

But Borisov also admitted that there would be problems in doing so. "We will have to face certain difficulties, since imported parts of weapons and military equipment account on the average for eight to 10 percent."

Analysts say that such an end of military-industrial cooperation between Moscow and Kiev would be a catastrophe for the latter. As Ukrainian military components have flowed largely into Russia, the Ukrainian defense enterprises would find it hard to sustain. Endi