KALININGRAD. Dec 13 (Interfax-AVN) - Almost 70 percent of servicemen of the Russian Baltic Fleet are living below the official poverty level, a spokesman for the fleet headquarters said on Thursday.
A lieutenant of the fleet who has just graduated from a military college and has seven daily duties each month gets a monthly salary of RUB1,600-1,700 (USD53-56.34), the spokesman told Interfax-Military News Agency. The sum is twice as low as the average salary of a young civilian specialist.
Low salaries badly affect the moral environment in young families, fleet commander Vice Admiral Vladimir Valuyev said. Sixty percent of suicides registered in the Baltic Fleet are committed because of financial troubles. Four servicemen of the fleet have committed suicide for that reason this year.
The government owes over RUB850m (USD28.19m) to the fleet's servicemen. The sum is made of unpaid salaries and other types of pays. Servicemen get 30 to 60 percent of required property and 60 percent of necessary medicines.