MOSCOW. Jan 18 (Interfax-AVN) - Dates of abolishing draft deferments in Russia are not known at the moment, Viktor Zavarzin, chairman of the State Duma defense committee, has said.
"We are only planning to study the issue in detail," Zavarzin said in an interview with the Izvestia daily published on Tuesday.
"The committee has no specific bill to this effect, and we have not received anything on this matter from the Defense Ministry or government," he stressed.
The defense committee has set up a working group "that is studying the situation, analyzing legislation and will offer an optimal way of revising the deferment system," Zavarzin noted.
"A legislative revision of existing deferments" is needed, he went on. "Being the defense committee chairman, I believe that the draftee's health must be the main reason for a deferment from active-duty service," he said.
Asked whether students will be recruited for active-duty service, Zavarzin said, "In my opinion, it is inexpedient to take the student away from an academy after one or two years of studies and send him to the army. The student must definitely complete his studies and then undergo service."
According to the Education and Science Ministry and the State Statistics Committee, only 25 percent of 1999-2000 academy graduates are working in the field they were trained.
"Thus, does it mean that we provided the deferment only for the study process as such to the other 75 percent?" Zavarzin said.