Armenian Defence Ministry signed contracts worth more than AMD 170bn in 2024

YEREVAN, 9 January. /ARKA/. The Armenian Ministry of Defence signed more than AMD 170 billion worth of contracts with local military-industrial complex companies last year, Minister of High Technology Industry Mkhitar Hayrapetyan said, commenting on experts' opinions that this field is not developing or is developing at insufficient rates.

‘If there is no pace of development, who were these contracts signed with? Just 5 years ago, companies could not provide even 20% of this volume. Obviously, the field is growing and there are positive dynamics as evidenced by these figures,’ he said at a press conference on Thursday.

At the same time, the minister admitted that there is still a lot of work to be done, in particular, pointing to the need to change some standards that have come from the Soviet period.

Hayrapetyan also said that spending on defence developments increased from AMD 1.1 billion in 2023 to AMD 1.45 billion in 2024. At the same time, he noted that this level is insufficient and the plans include raising it to 4.5 billion drams.

The Minister also touched upon the financial situation of the military-industrial complex companies, noting that last year they managed not only to pay off the existing debts, but also to become profitable. ($1 - 396.84 drams). -0-