Greater transparency needed in Russian small arms production
4 April 2007 In April, Saferworld published a report on small arms production in Russia highlighting the need for greater transparency in the production and export of Russia's small arms and suggesting a roadmap for reform.Russia remains one of the world's largest small arms and light weapons (SALW) producers though the exact value of Russia's small arms production, procurement and export are not publicly known.
The report also raises a number of concerns including the export of Russian military equipment to Algeria, Syria, United Arab Emirates and Yemen, as part of an effort to expand Russia's export markets in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.
The report identifies a number of measures to improve transparency, including:
•De-classifying enterprise data on SALW employment, profit, sales and export figures.
•Requiring SALW-producing enterprises to regularly publish comparable data on sales, exports and customers.
•Providing the United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics Database (UN COMTRADE) and the United Nations Register of Conventional Arms (UNROCA) with full, accurate and timely data on SALW transfers.
•Publishing a regular report on the value, volume and recipients of Russian conventional arms transfers, including SALW.
The report can be downloaded from the publications section. Download report.
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