tanzania-denies-seeking-huge-russian-arms-deal

There is no such plan,” the Minister for Defence and National Service, Dr Hussein Mwinyi, told The Guardian, adding: “Even if there were any plans, I wouldn’t give details on sensitive military matters.”
Mwinyi made the remarks after being sought out in the wake of the report attributed to RIA Novosti, a state-operated, Russian-language domestic news agency in Moscow.
The Moscow Times, an English-language weekly newspaper, quoted the RIA Novosti report which said Tanzania was on the verge of entering a huge arms deal with Russia.
"The east African country (Tanzania) was interested in purchasing the entire Mi-17 series of helicopters," a spokesperson of the Russian Military–Technical Cooperation Service (FSVTS) was quoted as saying.
"They (Tanzanians) also expressed interest in Russian fighter jets, small arms and armored vehicles. They have looked into every supplier and chose Russia,” he added.
The Russian government recently supplied the Mi-17 series helicopters to the Indian army, according to other media reports.
According to the RIA Novosti report, Russia said it was prepared to make a counter-offer to Tanzania's bid, which would include increased goods exports as well as provision of both commercial and state loans.
"Russian delegates in Tanzania have scheduled a meeting to discuss the proposal with the head of the Tanzanian defence ministry," said the report.
"A Tanzanian spokesperson said that the country had carried out a large amount of research into suppliers on the global weapons market," it added.
The reports from Moscow coincide with a visit to Tanzania by a non-military group of 50 private investors from Russia who arrived in Dar es Salaam on Tuesday to explore investment opportunities in the country in energy and other sectors.
The delegation is led by the Russian minister for trade and industry, Denis Manturov. Tanzania's ambassador to Russia, Wynjones Kisamba, is also accompanying the delegation on their visit to the country.
There are few private Russian investments in Tanzania. In March, a $1 billion project that would have propelled Tanzania into the world's top ten uranium producers, was delayed due to a slump in the global uranium industry, dealing a blow to the country's fledgling mining sector.
The Russian-controlled Uranium One, the world's fourth-largest uranium producer, had been planning to begin constructing Tanzania's first uranium mine at Mkuju River in Ruvuma region since 2013.
But the company said in March that the project had been put on hold until the global uranium industry recovers