MOSCOW, July 25 (AVN) - The Defence Ministry has received RUR2.4bn (USD82.04m) out of the needed RUR4.4bn (USD150.4m) for transportation of servicemen to their vacation sites, a spokesman for the Armed Forces rear headquarters said on Wednesday.
"The obtained funds are divided among all regions and airlines and absolute priority is given to the country's remote regions," the spokesman told the Military News Agency. The Defence Ministry has issued a directive ordering to use passenger and even cargo planes of the Air Force to transport servicemen and their family members to vacation sites.
The problem was aggravated by an increase of tariffs, which have grown 92 percent on railway transportation and 40 percent on aviation transportation since July 1.
The army got 70 percent of funds needed to cover servicemen's transportation by railway and 31 percent of funds needed to cover their airlift in the first half of 2001, the spokesman said. The rates are likely to decrease due to the growth of targets in the second half of the year.