Russian "Almaz-Antey" Will Not Participate in SIPRI Defense Firms Ratings

Russia’s Almaz-Antey, the company that produces the famed S-400 air defense systems, said it is not taking part in international ratings compiled by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

"JSC Concern VKO Almaz-Antey ceases to participate in the international ratings of the world's largest manufacturers of military products, despite the growth in revenue following the results of the past financial year," the company’s press office said in an official statement on Friday.

The company said disclosing information on weapons sales could expose it to the risk of sanctions. “Compared to 2020, we consider the disclosure of its indicators to be sensitive information, the dissemination of which can be used to further increase sanctions pressure on the company, its Russian and foreign partners," the press service said.

The U.S. slapped sanctions under Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) for buying S-400 systems from Almaz-Antey. The purchase also led the Pentagon to remove Turkey from the multibillion-dollar program to buy – and help build – F-35 Lightning II combat jets. Washington argued S-400s might be used by the Russians to gather intelligence on the stealth jet.

Almaz-Antey also noted that the organizers of these ratings use data on the volume and structure of consolidated revenue.

 “Over the past decade, the concern has consistently been a leader among Russian enterprises in terms of supplies of military products, and in the ratings of world defense industry manufacturers it traditionally occupies one of the top twenty lines. However, due to the growing sanctions pressure on Russia, a significant part of the information in the defense industry has become classified as classified data," Almaz-Antey said.

Also, the concern does not consider the level of reliability of the ranking of companies in foreign ratings to be indisputable.

"The organizers of such events are not able to verify the sales volumes declared by their participants, which in recent years has led to the appearance of new companies on the leaderboards - without a transparent history, without a reputation on the international arms market," the press service said.