#16 - RW 273
BBC Monitoring
Too early for professional army in Russia - upper house speaker
Source: Centre TV, Moscow, in Russian 0700 gmt 10 Sep 03

[Presenter] The Russian army is not ready to move to a contract footing, Russian Federation Council Speaker Sergey Mironov said during a meeting with [World War II] veterans.

Mironov said that 10-15 years are needed before the army can do without calling up conscripts and he received an enthusiastic approval from the veterans.

[Correspondent] Mironov met World War II veterans ahead of Tank Troops Day to speak about life and social protection. [Passage omitted]

Against the background of their own poverty and modest funds provided [by the state] for the needs of our army, the idea of having a professional and well-paid army seems strange to the veterans. They doubt that we can move to a contract-based army while we can hardly provide for unpaid conscripts. Mironov agrees with them.

[Mironov] I think I can say with total confidence that at least at the current moment and in the near future, for another 10-15 years, conscription must remain in Russia.

[Correspondent] Mironov also spoke about combat readiness of the army and modern military hardware, which is almost all being sold abroad, as well as about the army that we need and medicines. [Passage omitted]

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