CEO of Russia's state-owned defense conglomerate says military spending will decrease this year.
Russia's military budget may shrink by about 10 percent in 2015, the chief executive of state-owned defense conglomerate Rostec said Monday.
Last month, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said there should be a 10 percent cut across all sectors of government spending except for defense, which was considered ring-fenced by President Vladimir Putin.
However, even favored "power ministries" are beginning to feel the pressure of Russia's economic crisis and Sergei Chemezov — a key ally of Putin and among those targeted by Western sanctions over Ukraine — indicated on Monday that cuts could even impact the military.
Having argued in September that Western-imposed sanctions would not impact Russia's defense industry, Chemezov admitted changes were having to be made in response.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/rostec-ceo-says-russian-military-budget-may-shrink-10-in-2015/516348.html
Neo-cons always protect and promote defense spending while cutting the rest of a government's budget. Looks at least possible that Russian neo-cons will not be able to do that this year.