MOSCOW. Nov 17 (Interfax-AVN) - The social situation of Russian servicemen and their family members leaves much to be desired, Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said on Wednesday.
"The main reason is the set of problems related to salaries, housing provision and medical treatment," Ivanov told a training session of the Armed Forces top brass in Moscow.
More than 34 percent of servicemen's families have a per capita income below the sustenance level, he said. About 90,000 percent of servicemen's families do not have permanent housing, and about 45,000 need service housing, the minister said.
"We cannot put up with this situation and are taking specific steps to improve it," he stressed.
The federal law "Concerning the Mortgage System of Housing Provision to Servicemen", passed this year, introduces an absolutely new mechanism of housing provision, its main advantage being the capability to stimulate servicemen's longer service with the Armed Forces, Ivanov said.
The monthly bonus for tensity of service will be imposed on January 1, 2005, as a compensation for abolition of some privileges, the minister went on.
At the same time, annual adjustment of servicemen's salaries to the inflation level has not taken place this year, even though the law provides for doing so.
"Moreover, the adjustment is not planned for next year either. At the same time, prices are expected to have grown by about 25 percent by the end of 2005 as compared to those of 2003," Ivanov stressed.
"As a result, most servicemen's financial situation will deteriorate by the same figure," he said.
"We realize that the state's economic capabilities are not unlimited, but still hope that the government will raise the funds to improve the situation," Ivanov added.