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Igor Khokhlov comments on a six-fold increase in the last three years.

Доброе утро, мои уважаемые подписчики. Вас приветствует постоянный ведущий крупнейшей в мире политической рассылки на русском языке Национальная и государственная безопасность кандидат политических наук, научный сотрудник Института мировой экономики и международных отношений Российской академии наук Игорь Игоревич Хохлов.

Russian military expert Igor Khokhlov, a researcher with Moscow-based Institute of World Economy and International Relations, comments on a six-fold increase in Russia's military spending in the last three years.

While the country's position in the military expenses rating has jumped up, its defense expenditure is dwarfed by those of China and the US.

This is according to the World Arms Trade Center watchdog that has analyzed the statistics of the world arms trade in the period 2002-2009.

Research showed that Russia’s military expenses in 2009 amounted to $38 billion. In eight years, the country had managed to climb from 11th position to 7th.

“If we talk about the amount of spending, there has been a six-fold increase in the last three years,” military analyst Igor Khokhlov told RT. “We have to understand that Russia is a very specific country with very hostile environmental conditions, and it’s pretty hard to compare how much you spend and what you get, because most of the money still goes into maintaining this very expensive military infrastructure.”

The 2009 rating is topped by the US with its whopping $574 billion expenses, followed by China ($70.5 billion), the UK ($59 billion), France ($54 billion), Japan ($49 billion), Germany ($47 billion), Saudi Arabia ($32 billion), Italy ($30 billion), and India ($29 billion).

The center stressed that in 2009 the world’s total military expenses amounted to $1.33 trillion, which is 3.8 per cent less than in 2008 ($1.38 trillion). The center’s specialists say the main reason behind that is the global economic crisis.

Посмотреть интервью Игоря Хохлова в прямом эфире телеканала Russia Today

Научный сотрудник Института мировой экономики и международных отношений Российской академии наук Игорь Игоревич Хохлов комментирует шестикратный рост военных расходов России. Интервью в вечернем ток-шоу Prime Time на телеканале Russia Today.