MINSK, October 13 (AVN) - There will be no sufficient means next year to finance the Belarussian Armed Forces in several important spheres, a high-ranking official of the Belarussian Defence Ministry told the Military News Agency.
This statement was made while the official was commenting on the federal budget 2001 law adopted by the parliament on Thursday.
The increase of military expenditures by 5.1 percent will be eliminated by inflation and the army will get even less than it is getting this year, he said. Some USD110m envisaged by the budget will only be sufficient to pay servicemen's salaries, provide food and material support for them. All the other items of the military budget comprise purely token sums. For instance, it is planned to provide some USD500,000 for repair of the aircraft. But according to the Air Force Staff, the real need for this purpose is ten time bigger.
Token sums were provided for the combat training. The request of the Defence Ministry to increase spending to buy fuel and lubricants was not answered. This means the Belarussian tanks and APCs will stay in the hangars again instead of going out to proving grounds. There are no means for purchases of new weapons and ordnance in the budget, the official stressed.