MOSCOW, April 17 (AVN) - Armenia is likely to end training of ifs border guard officers in Russian higher educational establishments in the near future, Major-General Levon Stepanyan, commander of the Armenian border guard troops and head of the main border guard department of the National Security Ministry, said on Monday.
Training of a single serviceman costs Armenia about USD6,000 a year, and the full course of studies lasts five years, Stepanyan told the Military News Agency. Each year, Armenia sends 10 servicemen for training in Russia and can no longer find funds to finance their education, he said.
That is why the country's leadership is negotiating the training of border guard officers in military colleges and universities of Belarus and Kazakhstan, Stepanyan stressed.
Armenia remains one of Russia's most reliable partners in the Trans-Caucasian region, a high-ranking official of the state border guard department told the Agency. However Yerevan will have to bring down the level of co-operation with Moscow due to high costs of officers education, he added.