On November 14, 2018, Alexander Mikheev, Director General of Rosoboronexport (part of the Rostec State Corporation), and Renat Mistakhov, Director General of the Ak Bars Shipbuilding Corporation, signed a cooperation agreement and a joint action program to promote naval materiel in the external market in 2019–2023.
“The agreement will undoubtedly strengthen Rosoboronexport’s positions on proposals for naval forces. We are closely monitoring trends in the world weapons market, we are leading some of its directions, and we ourselves are making the rules of the game that competitors have to follow. The documents signed will make it possible to manufacture products that meet the needs of foreign customers as much as possible, and also provide technology transfer – a highly demanded service today – with our very responsive and reliable protection of the results of intellectual activity of the Russian developers and manufacturers,” said Alexander Mikheev.
The purpose of signing the documents is to organize effective interaction between the companies in developing, manufacturing and promoting Ak Bars Shipbuilding Corporation’s military, special, civil and dual-use products and services in external markets.
“I am very pleased to consolidate cooperation with the leading exporter of Russian weapons. We see Rosoboronexport as a reliable partner with many years of experience in external economic activities. I’m sure that our joint efforts will help the Corporation meet its primary strategic goal of increasing the revenues from the current level of 38.5 billion rubles to 100 billion rubles by 2025. In addition, I wish to note the social value of the agreement for Tatarstan: today the Corporation unites 10 enterprises and organizations that employ about 10,000 people. The portfolio of foreign orders for our products supports the modernization of production, permanent employment and growth in incomes,” said Renat Mistakhov.
Under the agreement signed, Rosoboronexport will consider Ak Bars as a possible participant in various military and technical cooperation projects with foreign countries, including in the course of its international naval market research. As is known, Rosoboronexport has been appointed the organizer of the joint Russian displays at international defense exhibitions abroad. In this role, the Company stands ready to provide organizational and information support to the Ak Bars Corporation.
“Rosoboronexport is proud to present Ak Bars products at international exhibitions. Navy representatives from the Company’s partner countries pay great attention to the Gepard-class frigates, our bestsellers supplied to a number of countries. This year we have added new Ak Bars products to our catalog, namely the Sarsar and Karakurt-E class missile ships, which have generated enormous interest abroad, including through the battle-proven Kalibr cruise missile systems integrated into them,” added Alexander Mikheev.