MOSCOW, April 27. /TASS/. Russia’s unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) industry is very promising an important, and its volume may reach 1 trillion rubles ($12.2 billion), Russian President Vladimir Putin said at an event in the Rudnevo industrial park Thursday.

"[It is] an extremely important area of national industry, very promising. We’ve checked just now, my colleagues and I, and I saw a figure of volume for the nearest future - 500 billion [rubles]. But they agreed with me that it is a very conservative estimation. Most likely, if all of us start working intensively, the state included, it will be 1 trillion rubles, that’s what the volume will be," the head of state said.

According to Putin, the drone industry is not only important, but also interesting.

"First, it is the future; the latest designs in a number of areas concentrate here. And, of course, what is even more important - applications of drones are simply boundless; there is not a single industry or economy sector where use of drones would impossible," he explained.

The president added that development of drones "will fundamentally, seriously increase the competitiveness of any economy."

"If we want structural changes - and we want them - then we all must, of course, together concentrate our efforts on development of this area," the head of state underscored.