MINSK, 10 May (BelTA) - Belarus has no plans to increase spending on its defense, Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin told the media following the meeting with the Belarusian president to discuss this year's state defense contracts on 10 May, BelTA has learned.
“The defense budget will stay as it was planned. There will be no additional spending,” the minister said.
In his words, the state defense needs for 2022 were approved by the head of state. “The president pays very close attention to it, looking at every prospect, every purchase we plan and how we equip the Armed Forces,” Viktor Khrenin said.
According to him, the main message of the head of state is that everything necessary for the army should be purchased domestically. “We can do a lot of things ourselves. A great part of the weapons produced by our military industrial complex (communications equipment, electronic warfare, many missile products) will be procured domestically, using budgetary funds,” the minister said.
As for external purchases, Viktor Khrenin said that expensive types of armament will be purchased as part of the Russian export loan. These are mostly products that are not produced by the domestic military industrial complex. "Budgetary funds will be used to purchase expensive types of weapons such as, for example, Su-30SM aircraft, helicopters, Tor-M2 (although the localization level is quite high and our military industrial complex produces mobility equipment),” the minister said.
