MOSCOW. April 10 (Interfax-AVN) - The accommodation of all installations in two compounds of the 76th airborne division where an experiment on transition to professional service is underway will be completed before December 1 this year, Major General Nikolai Maslikov, chief of the Airborne Troops logistics support department and deputy airborne commander in charge of logistics support, told Interfax-Military News Agency on Thursday.
"In accordance with a plan approved by a Defense Ministry commission, canteens in the Cherekha and Zavelichye compounds will be commissioned in May. The paratroopers will receive dormitories transformed from barracks and training rooms in September, while officers and warrant officers will receive four houses for 300 flats in July and August," Maslikov said.
He stressed that military builders of the Leningrad military district have spent over RUB1bn (USD32m) for the purpose.
"Some 2,000 builders are working on the construction of the two compounds in the division, the pace of work is high enough, and we have no doubt that the accommodation will be completed in time by the beginning of a new training year," Maslikov noted.
The experiment in the 76th airborne division is aimed at its switchover to professional service. It started on September 1, 2002 in accordance with a presidential decree of November 16, 2001 and a governmental regulation of November 20, 2001.