TBILISI. Nov 2 (Interfax-AVN) - Foreign nations, including the United States, have suspended long-term programs of assistance to the Georgian Armed Forces due to the political crisis in the republic, a spokesman for the Defense Ministry told Interfax-Military News Agency on Friday.
According to the spokesman, the situation will slow down the implementation of the armed forces development plan intended for four to five years. Even if the crisis is settled in the near future the programs will not be demothballed at once, and the plan's implementation will take six to seven years.
The situation is aggravated by the fact that the Georgian draft budget for 2002 envisages only GEL42m (USD20.14m) for the Defense Ministry needs while the ministry asked for GEL71m (USD34.06m).