Russia boosts defense budget by 20%

Russia will increase its defense budget by 20 percent to some 1 trillion rubles in 2008, Deputy Defense Minister Lyubov Kudelina said on Tuesday.

The military budget will reach 959.6 billion rubles (about 39 billion U.S. dollars) this year, accounting for some 16 percent of the national budget.

"More than 80 percent of the ministry's expenditures will cover national defense, while 20 percent will cover social needs," Itar-Tass news agency quoted Kudelina as telling military attaches accredited in Moscow.

The national defense expenditures include material and technical support to troops, procurements of armaments and military hardware, research and development and military construction projects, she said.

Russia will annually increase the budget in the 2008-2010 period, she said, noting the defense budget will stand at 1.06 trillion rubles (about 43 billion U.S. dollars) in 2009 and 1.19 trillion rubles (about 49 billion U.S. dollars) in 2010.

Moscow, amid arrays of disputes with the West, flexed its military muscle in recent years backed by a booming economy. It started building of new type of submarines, fighter jets and resumed strategic bomber patrol over world oceans last year.

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