STOCKHOLM, December 15. /TASS/. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) states a growth in sales of Russian arms against a decline in sales by the largest arms producing companies, the SIPRI Top 100.

Under the annual report made public on Monday, last year the sales of arms and military services by the largest arms-producing companies totaled $402 billion.

This list included 10 Russian companies, one company more than in 2012. According to experts, last year sales by Russian-based companies increased by 20%, to $32 billion.

The report said the Russian company with the largest increase in sales last year was Tactical Missiles Corporation, with a growth of 118% It was followed by Almaz-Antei (34%) and United Aircraft Corporation (20%), the report said.

SIPRI experts say such an impressive growth in sales of Russian producers comes due to uninterrupted investment of the Russian government in military-industrial sector to bring it on the par with US and Western European producers.

“The share of global arms sales for companies outside North America and Western Europe has been increasing since 2005,” says Aude Fleurant, Director of SIPRI’s Arms and Military Expenditure Program.

“‘For 2013, at 15.5 % of Top 100 arms sales, this share is at its highest point in the history of the SIPRI Top 100, which does not include China-based companies due to a lack of reliable data,” he said.