THE GENERAL STAFF OF THE RUSSIAN ARMED FORCES STARTS REFORMING EFFICIENT UNITS OF THE LAND FORCE, AIR FORCE AND OTHER ARMS AND SERVICES OF THE ARMED FORCES, REPORTS ANDREI KOKOSHIN

MOSCOW, August 22 (from RIA Novosti correspondent Yuri Alexeyev) -- The General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces has got own to reforming the efficient units of the Land Force, Air Force and other arms and services, Deputy Defence Minister Andrei Kokoshin told an interregional economic conference in Yekaterinburg today.

As the RIA Novosti correspondent was told in the staff of the Russian Defence Ministry, Andrei Kokoshin noted in his speech that the main task of the reform of the Armed Forces is the creation of the basis of a future army, a new system of the nation's defence economy and a modern defence industry. Reductions in the strength of the Armed Forces is "a forced and painful measure, which is not an aim in itself but just one of the ways to preserve the army".

According to him, one of the most important elements of the reform is the creation of a modern economic and budget-financial system of the Armed Forces, which is practically absent today. The Russian Defence Ministry also intends to pay particular attention to the provision of servicemen with housing. Partially, Kokoshin said, this task will be accomplished by using funds allocated to the military reform and those provided for in the draft of the federal budget for 1998. Housing should also be provided by using the budgetary allocations of the Federation members, noted the deputy minister.

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

Johnson's Russia List

#1139

23 August 1997

djohnson@cdi.org