SEVASTOPOL, February 14 (AVN) - State Secretary and First Deputy Defence Minister Nikolai Mikhailov arrived at the Russian Black Sea Fleet on Monday, the Military News Agency learned in the fleet's press service.
Mikhailov took a look at the situation in the fleet, implementation of Russian-Ukrainian agreements, ship-repairing problems and social security of servicemen, a press service official said. The state secretary and accompanying officials of the Defence Ministry will deal with Black Sea Fleet problems in the light of the Russian army reform, fleet aviation rearmament and several other middle-term and long-term issues, he added.
Also on Monday, Mikhailov, who heads the Defence Ministry working group in charge of presidential elections, met heads of the fleet's working groups who supervise preparations for the voting. It was the primary aim of his visit, a high ranking official of the Black Sea Fleet headquarters told the Agency. The Defence Ministry believes that the fleet's sailors are still supporting Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov, who has done a lot to improve conditions of their life and service. Most of them voted for Luzhkov's Fatherland-All Russia bloc at the parliamentary elections in December 1999.
Mikhailov's main mission is to make the servicemen change their minds in the favour of the current state power, the official said.
At the same time, one of his most important tasks is to evade a mistake made by the Armed Forces main education work department last year. On the eve of State Duma elections, it handed over packages with recommendations for organisation and conduct of the elections to education chiefs of military districts, fleets and Defence Ministry central departments.
The only election bloc whose candidates were listed in the documents was Vladimir Putin's Unity. Lieutenant-General Vladimir Kozhemyakin, deputy head of the education department, publicly called on his subordinates to campaign for Unity and make sure that the servicemen vote for the bloc.