News - Middle East: Russia's President Vladimir Putin calls the country's drone industry "a very important" sector for the country to develop, saying the industry could soon be worth billions of dollars. 

Remarking on Thursday, the Russian head of state said the industry was to be worth 500 billion roubles ($6 billion) "in the near future."

He, however, immediately described the figure as "a very conservative estimate," saying, "most likely, if we are all together - and the state too - we will work actively, it will be a trillion rubles ($12.25 billion), it will be such a volume."

Putin has ordered a strategy for Russia's development of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) through 2030.

According to Andrey Belousov, first deputy prime minister of Russia, who also attended the meeting, government orders for the production of drones would be worth about 92 billion roubles ($1.1 billion) in 2024-26 and 200 billion roubles ($2.4 billion) by 2030.

Late last year, Putin said Russia had to increase its own output of aircraft and create infrastructure for their widespread use in military and civilian applications.

Adding to his Thursday remarks, the Russian chief executive said UAVs could be used in virtually every part of the economy.

He instructed the Russian transport ministry to prepare proposals for the UAV industry to be made subordinate to Rosaviatia (the Russian aviation authority) or to propose ideas for the setting up of a special body.

Putin, meanwhile, emphasized that security and secrecy must not impede the development of the UAV industry in Russia.