MINSK, February 23 (AVN) - The number of professional servicemen in the Belarussian Armed Forces has decreased from 13,000 to 9,500 in the past 1.5 years, Major-General Mikhail Kaurin, head of the Belarussian General Staff mobilisation department, told the Military News Agency on Friday.
The reason for such decrease is low salaries, Kaurin said. Professional privates and sergeants of the Belarussian army receive BYR50,000-60,000 (USD42-50) per month.
The country should at least double salaries of professional privates and sergeants in case it is truly interested in gratual transition to the professional Armed Forces, Kaurin stressed. Taking into account the lack of people eligible for draft the professional army will have serious manning problems, he noted.