MOSCOW, April 19. /TASS/. Russia’s state space corporation has retained its competitive edge after it reduced prices for its services by 39%, despite the sanctions, Roscosmos CEO Dmitry Rogozin said on Sunday.

"We have taken an unprecedented step and reduced the price for our launches by 39% Despite the sanctions, we have managed to show maximum flexibility and retain the competitive edge of our launching services for foreign clients who prefer Russian carrier rockets for the launches of their satellites," he said in an interview with the Komsomolskaya Pravda radio station.

According to Rogozin, the strategy of the corporation and its enterprises is geared to increase their efficiency and reliability. "It implies avoidance of extra costs, non-production expenses and reduction of excessive managerial personnel. Such ‘technological fitness’ makes it possible to win extra competitive edges on the market of launching services," he stressed.

He recalled that the re-division of the market had begun about five years ago. Roscosmos enterprises once dominated the market, with prices for Proton launches reaching 100 million US dollars, he noted. "But later aggressive rival began to emerge on that market. They were backed by powerful forces, such as Pentagon in the United States, and other government clients. They paid for domestic launches in the interests of the state three to four times as much as the market’s average. That’s classical dumping openly practices in the space sphere by the United States," Rogozin said when asked about competition with SpaceX.

"As a matter of fact, they make no secret that they are seeking to squeeze out Roscosmos and European companies," he added.