PH in talks with Russia on purchase of military hardware

According to the Department of Foreign Affairs, the discussions continued with the meeting between Philippine Ambassador to Moscow Carlos Sorreta and Sergey Bugakov, Head of the First Directorate for Military-Technical Cooperation with Foreign States of the Federal Service for Military Technical Cooperation (FSMTC) held in Moscow.

The FSMTC is the Russian government agency in charge of the sale of military supplies and equipment to other countries. The FSMTC reports to the Office President Vladimir Putin and is subject to jurisdiction of the Ministry of Defense.

According to Ambassador Sorreta, he and Bugakov discussed a number of issues during their meeting, all aimed towards the possibility that the Philippines will obtain military supplies and equipment from Russia.

Among those were the implementation of existing agreements and the early conclusion of pending agreements that form the legal framework for the transfer of military supplies and equipment from Russia to the Philippines.

The two officials discussed the importance of competitive pricing and other issues that factor into the Philippine procurement process, according to Ambassador Sorreta.

Ambassador Sorreta said sourcing the Philippines’ military supplies and equipment from Russia “remains attractive, particularly since there are no political conditionalities involved.”