The Russian military shopping spree seems to have come to an end, as economic stagnation is forcing stricter budget regulation. The Russian Armed Forces continue to receive new weapons under existing contracts, but the government has nearly halved future procurement aspirations. In November, the Duma adopted Russia's federal budget for 2017 and the following decade. It shows the government is clearly slowing its defense spending. The trend began a year ago, after defense expenditures reached a post-Soviet peak of 4.7% of GDP in 2016.The 2017 budget saw a 27% decrease in nominal defense expenditures, to 2.87 trillion rubles ($48.5 billion) or 3.1% of GDP. Approved expenditures on national defense for 2018 reduce further to 2.77 trillion rubles or 2.8%. The plans for the following two years, 2019 and 2020, call for roughly the same sums in rubles, 2.79 and 2.81 trillion. Nevertheless, this means lower shares in GDP: 2.7% and 2.5%, respectively.
展开▼
