HANOI. March 27 (Interfax-AVN) - The withdrawal of Russian military personnel from the Cam Ranh naval base in Vietnam is to be completed by July 2002, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov told journalists in Hanoi on Tuesday.
"I hope an appropriate agreement will be signed during the next few days," Kasyanov said.
He said that "the removal of the base does not mean that the level of cooperation with Vietnam is being reduced."
The military base is "an example of the old technology of attaining strategic goals. The use of such old technologies is no longer needed. However, strategic partnership with Vietnam will expand," Kasyanov said.
President Vladimir Putin officially announced the withdrawal of Russia from the base in October 2001, when he said that the liquidation of the base would begin on January 1, 2002.
Asked to comment on the announcement, Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said that Putin's decision on the abolition of military bases in Vietnam and Cuba was made at the request of the Defense Ministry.
"Reasons for our withdrawal from Cam Ranh are not limited to the sphere of economy. The nature and volume of missions assigned to the Armed Forces has changed considerably over the past few years. Our permanent military presence in the Indian Ocean zone is no longer motivated by state security interests," Ivanov said.
Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov rejected presumptions that Russia's withdrawal from its bases in Vietnam and Cuba was a concession to the United States. According to him, the Cam Ranh base has stopped accomplishing missions for which it was originally established."
Chief-of-Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Anatoly Kvashnin said the money saved from liquidation of the Cam Ranh base could finance the construction of a nuclear submarine featuring the latest equipment.
The Cam Ranh base will be transferred to the Vietnamese side by July 1, chief of staff of the Russian Navy Admiral Viktor Kravchenko told Interfax-Military News Agency. He said preparatory work is under way for the transfer of the entire infrastructure, including the landing strip and quay.
Hanoi allowed its ally the former Soviet Union to use the base rent-free from 1979 - a time of worsening ties with China. The lease of Russia's only base in the country runs out in 2004.
Vietnam requested the revision of earlier accords in 1998. Saying that the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 and supplies of arms and hardware to Vietnam stopped the same year, Hanoi demanded that Moscow paid a yearly rent of USD300m.
According to open Western media, Cam Ranh in 1984 was Moscow's biggest overseas base outside the Warsaw Pact with a staff of up to 5,000, including operating personnel. In 2001, the base employed about 400 Russian citizens, including military sailors, workers and employees.
The Vietnamese party has repeatedly announced that the Cam Ranh base will be used only in national interests after Russia's pull-out. Vietnamese Ambassador to Russia Ngo Tat To told reporters in August 2001 that Cam Ranh would be used for civilian purposes only in the future.
"Vietnam is not planning to sign a document with any country on the use of the port for military purposes after 2004," he said.
Speaking about Russian-Vietnamese relations, the ambassador said that "development and strengthening of friendly relations with Russia is a long-term strategic goal of the Vietnamese Communist Party and government."
After the Cam Ranh base is disbanded, Russia will retain its only overseas base in the Syrian port of Tatrus, where a floating workshop servicing both Russian and Syrian vessels is located.