Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Shakeup Atop Russia's No. 1 Arms Exporter

MOSCOW - Almaz-Antei, Russia's leading arms exporter, replaced the head of its design bureau, according to a Feb. 4 statement on the company website.
Igor Ashurbeili, was replaced by his first deputy, Vitaly Neskorodov, after a unanimous vote by the design bureau's board of directors, the statement said.
Industry insiders quoted in the Russian press described by the conflict between Ashurbeili and the concern's leadership. Ashurbeili, who had run the design bureau since 2000, was said to be defending commercial independence of his design bureau that directly dealt with the Defense Ministry and the state arms export monopoly, Rosoboronexport.
Almaz-Antei, which develops and produces anti-aircraft missiles, had 2009 defense revenues of $3.3 billion.
The design bureau, formerly NPO Almaz, which was merged with rival NPO Antei in 2002 to make Russia's biggest defense company, has developed and produces powerful S-300 and S-400 anti-aircraft missile defense systems popular on the international market. The bureau develops prospective S-500 anti-aircraft, anti-missile system for the Russian military.

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