PETROZAVODSK, JULY 16 (RIA NOVOSTI CORRESPONDENT ALEXANDER KRYLOVICH). Russian President Boris Yeltsin today signed a decree on priority measures related to reformation of Russia`s Armed Forces and improvement of their structure. He put his signature under this document in the course of his meeting with Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin.

After the conversation Yeltsin reported to journalists on a serious change in the structure of the armed forces. In particular, the strategic rocket forces, military space forces and space defense forces will be united in a single arm of the service, rocket forces. The territorial districts will be also subjected to serious re-structuring, from now one they will be "of operative-territorial nature." As it was reported earlier, the armed forces will be cut down by 500,000 servicemen, not including civilians who work in the army.

In line with the decree, Yeltsin said, there will be no post of commander-in-chief of the Land forces. The air defense forces and air forces will be united within Russia`s Air Forces.

As Yeltsin said, the decree establishes the limit of appropriations for the maintenance of the Defense Ministry apparatus, one percent of the budget. This is a very serious reduction, Yeltsin said. The road construction forces will be also annulled in line with the presidential decree. The detachments formerly assigned to the road construction forces will be subordinate to the Federal Road Service.

Yeltsin said that he has signed one more decree today which concerns "specialized organizations." While explaining the decree, Yeltsin said that until now there have existed numerous closed organizations with a restricted access, for mass media as well. "It is necessary to unseal them," he said.

---------------------

Johnson's Russia List

#1053

16 July 1997

djohnson@cdi.org