MOSCOW. Nov 1 (Interfax-AVN) - The Russian Defense Ministry administration has been reshuffled within the framework of reorganization.
A Defense Ministry spokesman told Interfax-Military News Agency that Army General Nikolai Pankov had been appointed head of the HR and Personnel Support Service, Colonel General Anatoly Grebenyuk - head of the Housing and Accommodation Service, while Lyubov Kudelina - head of the Economy and Finance Service.
Pankov, Grebenyuk, and Kudelina had earlier been deputy defense ministers for personnel, Armed Forces development, and finance respectively, the spokesman said.
He also said that Andrei Chobotov, who had earlier occupied the post of aide to the defense minister, was appointed head of the Russian Defense Minister's Administration.
The ordinances on the General Staff, the Defense Minister's Administration, as well as HR and Personnel Support, Economy and Finance, and Housing and Accommodation Services are expected to be adopted in the near future, the spokesman said. "These services have already introduced changes to reshuffling plans, and adopted lists of civil servant posts to be standardized," he said.
He added that the major part of reshuffling in the Russian Defense Ministry was expected to be completed by mid November 2004.
Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov earlier told reporters that his ministry's central staff will be made up of 10,350 servicemen and civilians.
"The President - Supreme Commander-in-Chief has strictly limited the size of the Defense Ministry central staff to 10,350 people, less than 0.5% of the Defense Ministry's total personnel," Ivanov said.
"It is a rather limited size. We will closely watch the central staff so that it does not grow but fulfill its missions," the minister said.