NOVO-OGAREVO, April 20. /TASS/. Medical face masks production in the country is growing, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday.

"We were producing just 1.2 mln masks in the country in early March; we will produce as much as 3.5 mln per day by the end of the month and will make 7.5 mln in the near future," the head of state said.

The Russian industry is boosting production of various protective aids, Putin said. "At the same time, we collaborate with our foreign partners rather proactively," the president added, citing China as an example. "When our friends experienced difficulties in February, we sent 2 mln masks [to them]. We have received to date 150 mln masks from China through different channels," he noted.

Domestic "small and medium enterprises set up production of hygienic masks in the amount of 5.8 mln," the head of state said. "Some 1.7 mln protective suits are imported into Russia. We scaled up domestic production from 6,000 in mid-March to 20,000 and more than 100,000 suits will be produced daily in the coming future, by May," Putin noted. "Two million protection suits were additionally imported from China," he said. "Such work will definitely continue," the Russian leader vowed.

As regards production of breather masks, "we increased production twofold over one month to 280,000 per day, while 2.5 mln were delivered from China over that period. Roughly 700,000 items will be imported by the end of April and 2.6 mln more in May," the president informed.

"We enjoy fairly broad cooperation with many colleagues," Putin stated. At the same time, Russia completely covers its sanitizer needs, the president pointed out. "We get along without import in respect of sanitizers; we satisfy all our needs completely," he added.