MOSCOW. Sept 28 (Interfax-AVN) - Russia's 2005 budget will include additional funding for the troops in the North Caucasus, Audit Chamber auditor Mikhail Surkov told Interfax.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has issued a decree to strengthen the troops in the North Caucasus, Surkov said.
"Implementation of this decision will certainly require funding and additional expenses. They will of course be lower than the expenses on the replacement of social benefits with monetary payments, but the figure is quite high. It is in the billions of rubles," Surkov said.
The money is not written into the draft version of the budget that was submitted to the Duma, Surkov said. "The government obviously has not yet had time to calculate how much money is needed," he said.