MOSCOW, May 24 (RIA Novosti) - Defense spending in Russia in 2007 will total about 800 billion rubles ($29.6 billion) in 2007, the defense minister said Wednesday.
"This sum will be equal to 2.6-2.7% of GDP," Sergei Ivanov told journalists after a session of the lower house of Russia's parliament, which considered military development until 2010.
Although he said the Defense Ministry's budget would continue to grow, the minister said its share of gross domestic product would remain unchanged and would "not be militarist."
