BIG YEAR FOR RUSSIAN ARMS EXPORTERS.

The director of Rosvooruzheniye, the Russian state arms trading company, said yesterday that Russia has orders for arms deals in 1996 that total more than $7 billion. If that figure is accurate, it would represent a significant jump in Russian earnings from arms sales. Kremlin officials have said that Moscow exported arms and military services worth $3 billion in 1995, which was itself described as an 80 percent increase over 1994. In early February, Russian Security Council Secretary Oleg Lobov had foreseen Russian arms sales rising to only $3 or $4 billion annually over the next couple of years. According to another Rosvooruzheniye official, India accounted for 40 percent of Russia’s 1995 arms exports. (Interfax, March 28)

Primakov Denies NATO-CIS Link.