Defense Ministry Saves $748M by Disposing Unused Property

The Defense Ministry has saved more than 25 billion rubles ($748 million) by transferring unused property to regional and municipal authorities, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Tuesday.

Speaking at the ministry’s situation center, Shoigu said the armed forces held a lot of surplus property that could be either turned into municipal property or sold.

He also said the ministry had been sustaining “colossal losses” from maintaining and guarding the disused facilities, Interfax reported.

In June, the government supported a ministry initiative to invite outside organizations to assist in the sale of its property as part of a ministry decentralization policy.

Rostec Joins Forces with Austrian Companies

The state-owned technology company Rostec has signed a slew of agreements with Austrian companies to use the Europeans’ technology in joint ventures, including a deal to begin manufacturing firearms in in the Russian republic of Udmurtia.

The Russian company and the weapons producer Steyr Mannlicher signed the agreement on Tuesday at the Russian-Austrian Business Council meeting in Vienna, Rostec’s vice president Vladimir Artyakov told Prime.

Rostec’s Izhevsk arms factory, which manufactures the legendary Kalashnikov assault rifle, will house the partners’ new endeavor.

The Austrian side, which will give the project materials, technology and designs for recreational and military-grade weapons, is expected to include other weapons producers, like the pistol company Glock.

Rostec and the Austrian company Diamond Aircraft earlier signed an agreement to build light passenger planes at the Ural civil aviation factory.