Kiev
Traditionally, one of the more important arms shows for Russian industry has been the International Defence Exposition (IDEX) that took place late last month in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Despite the financial woes they are suffering, Russian industry has to participate to try and keep itself alive. However, no one could possibly reconcile the behavior of the Russian delegation at this expo with the dire situation that their industry faces back home.
The fortunes of the Russian defense industrial sector at present make AIG and Bank of America look like the financial picture of health. The Russian industrial conglomerate umbrella company, Rostekhnologia (ROT) that has monopoly control over the entirety of the nation’s defense industry is headed by Sergei Chemezov. He is also a life-long–and perhaps the number one–FOV (Friend of Vladimir Putin) in the Russian government, the two having first befriended one another when they served together in the former East German Democratic Republic (GDR) as KGB officers during the waning days of the Cold War.
