Russia Seeks to Expand Foothold on Kazakh Arms Market

Russia is looking to expand its presence on Kazakhstan’s arms market during the Kadex-2012 defense exhibition, which opened in the Kazakh capital on Thursday.

Russia is represented by a number of major defense companies, including United Shipbuilding Corporation, United Aircraft Corporation, and Uralvagonzavod, as well as the state-controlled arms exporter Rosoboronexport, the Kommersant daily said on Thursday.

Experts note that this points to Russia’s high interest in military-technical cooperation with its CIS neighbor.

Russia is revising its international status from a leading global player to a more low-key role, Ruslan Aliyev, editor in chief of the Periskop.ru portal, said, adding that “client states,” such as Venezuela, Algeria, India and China have been “saturated” with Russian weapons.

Meanwhile, the Arab Spring shows that Russia is no match for the United States and Europe “so it is time for it to deepen ties with its neighbors,” he said.

 

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