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Coronavirus pandemic

Russia’s defense procurement plan unaffected by pandemic, says industry minister

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu earlier said he was confident that the defense procurement plan would be fulfilled despite the pandemic

MOSCOW, July 31. /TASS/. The coronavirus pandemic had no impact on the timeframe of Russia’s defense procurement plan and new defense orders, Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov told TASS on Friday.

"Actually, it had no impact. This is because we timely formed all cooperation chains both with regions and with integrated structures in the manual mode so that they could not be destroyed," the minister said, replying to the corresponding question.

In some instances, the timeframe can be only slightly adjusted, he said.

"A small number of fourth-level producers somewhere faced certain restrictions and failed to provide the timely delivery, which caused some adjustment but very insignificant in terms of the timeframe," Manturov explained.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu earlier said he was confident that the defense procurement plan would be fulfilled despite the pandemic.

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