VOA标准英语2009年-Russia to Develop Strategic Nuclear Forces Desp

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov says development of his country's strategic nuclear forces will be the government's top military procurement¹ priority in 2009. Ivanov's statement was made while Russia faces a budget deficit² and its defense³ industry says it is having trouble getting loans due to the global economic crisis.
　
Sergei Ivanov (file photo)

Addressing lawmakers in the lower house of the Russian Parliament, Sergei Ivanov said Russia's military industrial complex has been considerably⁴ less affected⁵ by the global economic crisis than the country's civilian⁶ industries. The reason, he says, is simple - defense industries are funded by the state budget.

Ivanov notes there has also been no decrease in demand for Russian military exports, adding that the rising value of the U.S. dollar favors his country's defense industry.

The senior official says the government will focus on three aspects of military procurement in 2009; purchase of new equipment, research and development, and repair and modernization⁷ of existing equipment. Within these expenditures⁸, he says priority will be given to Russia's strategic nuclear forces.

Ivanov says he is being frank so that everyone knows this includes the entire triad of strategic forces - missile defense, navy and air force. He recognizes this priority will be very expensive, but says Russians have no other way but to develop and perfect their strategic nuclear deterrent⁹.

Ivanov also urged lawmakers to pass a measure to regulate the price of weapons and military hardware. And he said the best way to minimize inevitable¹⁰ negative effects of the global economic crisis on Russian industry is through government defense procurement.

Ivanov says as government defense appropriations¹¹ reach firms, they will have no need to run to banks for credit. He notes that state orders are the most effective way to support Russian defense companies.

At the same time, Ivanov acknowledged the majority of Russian defense firms are having a tough time getting credit.

Speaking immediately after Ivanov, the director of the government's Russian Technologies Corporation, Sergei Chemezov, told lawmakers the organization has approached Western banks for loans to support Russian industry, because domestic credit is too expensive.

Chemezov says 36 percent of strategic firms in the military industrial complex are financially stable, and 30 percent are showing signs of bankruptcy¹². He says a particularly difficult situation has emerged in the areas of ammunition¹³ and special chemicals, where about half the firms face potential bankruptcy.

Meanwhile, the Interfax News Agency quotes Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin as saying Russia's 2009 federal budget revenues will drop by more than 30 percent compared to last year. This will create an eight percent budget deficit, Russia's first in several years.

1 procurement   

n.采购；获得

参考例句：

• He is in charge of the procurement of materials.他负责物资的采购。
• More and more,human food procurement came to have a dominant effect on their evolution.人类获取食物愈来愈显著地影响到人类的进化。

2 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

3 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

4 considerably   

adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上

参考例句：

• The economic situation has changed considerably.经济形势已发生了相当大的变化。
• The gap has narrowed considerably.分歧大大缩小了。

5 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

6 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

7 modernization   

n.现代化，现代化的事物

参考例句：

• This will help us achieve modernization.这有助于我们实现现代化。
• The Chinese people are sure to realize the modernization of their country.中国人民必将实现国家现代化。

8 expenditures   

n.花费( expenditure的名词复数 )；使用；（尤指金钱的）支出额；（精力、时间、材料等的）耗费

参考例句：

• We have overspent.We'll have to let up our expenditures next month. 我们已经超支了，下个月一定得节约开支。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The pension includes an allowance of fifty pounds for traffic expenditures. 年金中包括50镑交通费补贴。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 deterrent   

n.阻碍物，制止物；adj.威慑的，遏制的

参考例句：

• Large fines act as a deterrent to motorists.高额罚款是对开车的人的制约。
• I put a net over my strawberries as a deterrent to the birds.我在草莓上罩了网，免得鸟歇上去。

10 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。

11 appropriations   

n.挪用（appropriation的复数形式）

参考例句：

• More commonly, funding controls are imposed in the annual appropriations process. 更普遍的作法是，拨款控制被规定在年度拨款手续中。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• Should the president veto the appropriations bill, it goes back to Congress. 假如总统否决了这项拨款提案，就把它退还给国会。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

12 bankruptcy   

n.破产；无偿付能力

参考例句：

• You will have to pull in if you want to escape bankruptcy.如果你想避免破产，就必须节省开支。
• His firm is just on thin ice of bankruptcy.他的商号正面临破产的危险。

13 ammunition   

n.军火，弹药

参考例句：

• A few of the jeeps had run out of ammunition.几辆吉普车上的弹药已经用光了。
• They have expended all their ammunition.他们把弹药用光。