May 8, 1997

[translation for personal use only]

[Announcer Vladimir Konyukhov] Dear Mayak listeners, Russian Defense Minister Igor Rodionov is with us in our studio today. He is ready to answer your questions. Igor Nikolayevich, the floor is yours.

[Rodionov] Good afternoon, dear listeners. First of all I would like to congratulate World War II veterans on their great holiday tomorrow, Victory Day. [passage omitted: more congratulations and wishes]

Our army and fleet are experiencing trying times at present. Much of their work is based on real patriotism, tolerance, and the courage of our soldiers and officers, on the sense of duty which has been instilled in them for years. As before, the armed forces are vigilantly guarding our motherland ensuring Russia's security and protecting her state interests. In this connection we pin great hopes on the upcoming military reform.

The reform of the armed forces is to become the core of the general military reform. Its strategic formula is simple and clear -- fewer troops and forces will ensure much higher quality of the country's defense. In this, attention will be focused first of all on the social sphere and on equipping the armed forces with state- of-the-art combat hardware and weapons. Only then can Russia's security and safety be guaranteed.

You know that insufficient financing is one of our Army's main

problems at present. We are not hiding this fact from the general public. However, we do not want to be an excessive burden on the government's and people's shoulders. I am confident that as the country lifts itself out of the economic crisis and as more advanced stages of the military reform are

reached, the situation will be normalized again. At present, however, as defense minister I am greatly worried about the situation in the social sphere in the Army. The government itself regards people with shoulder-straps as being in a special situation. The law prohibits them to have any other income in addition to their salaries.

Given all these wage arrears, what are they to do? This is why I have always believed -- and I still believe -- that one of the final goals of the upcoming military reform is to ensure that Russian soldiers and officers have a dignified existence which will raise their social status to the appropriate level and will enable every serviceman to concentrate on their priorities - on conscientious service.

I would like to stress that this is not only the opinion of the military. The Russian president, government, and legislators are also fully aware of this situation. Hence, I am confident that money for implementing the military reform will be found, and that Russia will at last have armed forces sufficient for maintaining her defense capability and enjoying well-deserved prestige.

[Konyukhov] [passage omitted: introduces phone-in]

[Unidentified called] Igor Nikolayevich, why don't you ever voice an official protest against those bureaucrats who are not implementing the law and presidential decrees concerning army veterans? [passage omitted: elaboration]

[Rodionov] Dear Dmitriy Ivanovich, indeed, the law on veterans provides many allowances for you, and these are quite well-deserved perks. However, so far no existing legal mechanism makes it possible to implement these decrees to the full. [passage omitted: Rodionov shares questioner's feelings]

[Konyukhov] [passage omitted] And now a painful subject which has already been raised in our programs before, and it is not surprising that today it is also being raised by servicemen, addressing the defense minister. It is the problem of wage arrears, which in the Army is called the money allowance. [passage omitted]

[Rodionov] In October, the Government of the Russian Federation adopted a timetable for the payment of arrears and money allowance in 1996-97. In accordance with this timetable, the situation must be brought back to normal before 1 July 1997, and the arrears paid in full. However, in practice, the implementation of this decision presents certain difficulties connected with budget revenue collection. As a result, the Ministry of Defense is not receiving all the funds scheduled in the timetable. I can say that on 1 May, the financial shortfall which hampered the implementation of the timetable was in excess of 3 billion rubles [R]. So, under these conditions, the question of paying the allowance and wage arrears wholly depends on the funds allocated to the Defense Ministry from the budget.

[Konyukhov] [passage omitted: poor nutrition for troops]

[Rodionov] A lot has been said and written about the highly unsatisfactory state of food provision in the Army and Navy. I do not wish to bore you with figures, but we cannot do without them. Last year, out of over R6 billion approved for food supplies, the Army received only R3.4 billion, that is, just over half. Officials figured out that over R10,000 is too much for a soldier's daily ration. So, they gave R5,000. In their opinion, once a soldier has had his breakfast, he can forget about lunch and dinner. But this year too, there has been no change for the better. We will definitely not allow this, ever. The situation is made worse by the fact that a considerable number of conscripts drafted into the Armed Forces are undernourished. We give these soldiers extra food rations and they are excused from strenuous exercise. The government has suggested a tender system for the supply of provisions to the armed forces. Time will show how effective this will be.

What is more important is that the funds to finance supplies of provisions for the Armed Forces must be released on time and in the required amounts. I would like to assure listeners, especially servicemen's relatives, and tell them not to worry. We must not let our soldiers lack food and go hungry. The president and the government of the country personally supervise money allowances and provision supplies for the servicemen. The upcoming cuts in the military budget must in no way affect these areas. On the contrary, we will increase our efforts here to eliminate the arrears due to the Ministry of Defense.

[Konyukhov] [passage omitted]

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Johnson's Russia List

10 May 1997

djohnson@cdi.org