#17 - RW 275
Russkii Kurier
September 24, 2003
NO NEED TO SEND SPIES TO THE DUMA
NATO will know about Russia's defense spending
By Vitali Strugovets
[from WPS Monitoring Agency, www.wps.ru/e_index.html]

[Chief of the General Staff Anatoly Kvashnin has requested Prime Minister Mikhail Kasianov to make statistics on national defense spending available to the Russia-NATO Council. Duma defense committee chairman Andrei Nikolaev comments on this proposal.]

Chief of the General Staff Anatoly Kvashnin has requested Prime Minister Mikhail Kasianov to make statistics on national defense spending available to the Russia-NATO Council.

When Kvashnin's proposal reached the Duma, it caused some debate among Duma members: some pointed out that the government conceals defense spending details from the Russian public, but would now be revealing them to a potential enemy.

However, Duma defense committee chairman Andrei Nikolaev says this topic was urgent a year ago. At the time, the Russian government only revealed details of five defense budget items to the Duma before consideration of the draft budget for 2003; but it sent the UN and OSCE details of 24 items, in accordance with reciprocal agreements. So most Duma deputies were voting based on trust when they passed the budget.

Before the second reading in October 2003, 58 defense spending items - relating to ongoing maintenance of the Armed Forces, as well as research and development and purchases of hardware - were made avialable to taxpayers. "Although only five items were public knowledge in the past, 74 of them are open today," said Nikolaev in reply to a question about declassification of Russia's defense spending.

As for Kvashnin's proposal to make details of the Russian military budget available to the Russia-NATO Council, Nikolaev commented as follows: "It is quite possible. Firstly, because Russia already provides this information to the UN and OSCE. And all NATO members are also members of these organizations. We just increase the number of addressees to which we send the information, not the contents of the reports. In reality, NATO already has this information, with its members being simultaneously members of the UN and OSCE."

Nikolaev added: "At the same time, it would represent a new area of trust between Russia and NATO. However, I would like to stress that such information should be given to NATO not on a one- sided basis, but as an exchange of information. Russia should get the analogous information and with equal content. And of course we shouldn't exceed the limits of national security."

Translated by Gregory Malyuitn

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