Russia sold a record 6.5 billion dollars (4.9 billion euros) worth of weaponry in 2006, 20 percent more than expected, President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday, Russian news agencies reported.
Total orders for Russian arms reached 30 billion dollars last year, Putin was quoted as telling a commission responsible for defence sector co-operation.
"It is not only combat aircraft that are in demand," Putin said. "Foreign specialists are also more and more interested in anti-aircraft defence systems, maritime military equipment and anti-tank systems."
The value of Russian arms exports to members of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), which includes all former Soviet countries except the three Baltic republics, doubled last year, Putin said.
It was the second record year in a row for Russia's arms industry. In 2005, Russian arms exporter Rosoboronexport sold six billion dollars (4.5 billion euros) worth of weapons and defence systems.
Sergei Chemezov, the general director of Rosoboronexport, told news agency ITAR-TASS on the sidelines of the meeting that "new contracts worth nine billion dollars (6.8 billion euros) were concluded in 2006," in particular with Latin American countries.
The government of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced in February that it was ready to buy an unspecified number of short-range TOR-MI missiles from Russia.
In July, Chavez signed a contract worth more than 3.5 billion dollars (2.67 billion euros) to buy 24 Sukhoi aircraft to replace ageing F16 fighter planes acquired from the United States. In 2004, Chavez signed an agreement to buy 100,000 Kalashnikov assault rifles and 53 military helicopters.
Washington has protested Russia's arms sales to Venezuela, which has become increasingly anti-American under Chavez.