May 8, 1997

By Anton Surikov

The government's law on budget sequestration stipulates the reduction of national defense expenditures by more than 20%. And this happens in a situation when the country's armed forces continue to suffer from the shortage of money. According to the early May statistics, the government owes the ground forces alone 10.5 trillion rubles, including 2,660 billion rubles for cash payments. The ground troops servicemen did not receive their pay checks in March and April. 60% of servicemen received their February pay checks in the Moscow military district, 40% in the Far Eastern military district, 30% in the Trans-Baikal military district and only 10% in the Volga military district. The government also owes 780 billion rubles to the civilian personnel of the ground troops in back wages, more than 2.5 trillion rubles in back food allowances and 4.2 trillion rubles in back utilities and 190 billion in back transport payments. It is in such a critical situation that general V.S. Chechevatov is assuming the post of the

ground troops supreme commander in the end of this month.

The elite Defense Ministry generals who demonstrate enviable activity in inner departmental intrigues are strangely passive when they come across the pressure on the part on the government "reformers." According to information from sources in the General Staff, Igor Rodionov has recently met with Vice Premiers Alfred Kokh and Yakov Urinson. The government has already decided to discontinue the further financing of the army for an indefinite period. The Defense Minister was told to decide which facilities and property could be urgently sold to replenish the budget. Bases in Vladivostok and Kaliningrad were mentioned among others.

As a follow-up to that meeting, Rodionov summoned his superiors and demanded that the government's orders be strictly obeyed. However, the heads of the General Staff's departments are not very enthusiastic about the idea of being plunged into commerce.