ARMINFO News Agency, Armenia
 Saturday


Military expert: Acquisitions within the framework of a new loan
agreement of $ 100 million will protect the airspace of Armenia from
surprises

Yerevan October 14

Angela Stepanyan. New acquisitions within the framework of the $ 100
million loan agreement with Russia will protect the airspace of
Armenia from various surprises. Such an opinion ArmInfo was expressed
by the Caucasus department of the Institute of CIS countries, military
expert Vladimir Evseev. In accordance with the credit agreement of the
governments of Armenia and Russia, a loan of $ 100 million is granted
for 20 years, of which 5 years - under preferential 3% per annum.
Armenia will co-finance a loan in the amount of 10% of the total cost
of the agreement.

According to the intermediate program of defense spending for
2018-2020. Armenia plans to increase the defense budget annually by $
60 million to increase military spending by 4% of GDP. At present,
Armenia's military expenditures are about 3.6% of GDP or about $ 450
million.

"Considering the advantage gained by Azerbaijan with the help of
Israel over Armenia in the area of air defense, Yerevan today
desperately needs shock systems." The Armed Forces of Armenia are
strengthening their military capabilities, seeking to acquire weapons
from the Russian Federation that could further strengthen it,
primarily air defense systems and heavy, division artillery, "- he
said. According to the first Armenian-Russian agreement on granting
Armenia a loan of $ 200 million, the Armed Forces of the Republic
purchased rocket launchers 9K58 "Smerch" SAM "Igla-S", passive radio
technical reconnaissance "Avtobaza-M", flamethrower systems TOS-1A
"Solntsek" , armored vehicles "Tiger", anti-tank missile systems
"Competition-M", antitank grenade launchers RPG-26, small arms,
engines and sights for tanks T-72 and BMP, communications equipment,
engineering equipment, KamAZ.

The agreement on granting a loan on preferential terms - to start a
loan with a 3% rate Yerevan will start only in 2018 in rubles for 10
years, and an advance payment of only 10% was concluded in 2015.