MOSCOW. April 23 (Interfax-AVN) - A revisory commission of the Russian Defense Ministry registered large-scale embezzlement in the 11th air force and air defense army stationed in the Far East, a spokesman for the ministry told Interfax-Military News Agency on Tuesday.
Lieutenant General Anatoly Nogovitsyn, former commander of the army and current deputy Air Force commander, was severely reprimanded for unscrupulous service after the commission visited the Far East.
A slighter punishment was given to Air Force Commander Vladimir Mikhailov, for he was appointed to his post only a few months ago, in January 2002, the spokesman said.
"As his tenure of office is quite short, Mikhailov was reprimanded for poor control over the organization of economic activities in subordinate structures, formations and military units," the spokesman said
Several senior officers of the army were warned of poor compliance with requirements of their posts or demoted.
The commission that inspected the Far East in February to March 2002 exposed a considerable growth in the amount of embezzled funds in the 11th army, the spokesman said. The inspection proved that the losses increased seven times in 2001 in comparison with the previous year and totaled some RUB5m (USD160,359). "The loss of fuel grew more than 15 times in the army," the spokesman stressed.
According to him, the losses were "caused by lack of control from officials of the army."