Generals couldn't care less about reforms - Nemtsov

 
Boris Nemtsov, the leader of Russia's right-wing and ardent proponent of large-scale military reforms to transform the nation's cash-strapped and  demoralised armed forces to a contractual basis, has asked President Vladimir Putin to dismiss the Chief of the General Staff Antoly Kvashnin as the key person in charge of military reform and to entrust the job to a special workgroup headed by Prime Minister Kasyanov.

The SPS leader outlined his initiative to Gazeta.Ru, and explained why, in his opinion, Vladimir Putin will most likely accept his proposal. The following interview was granted on Friday, October 18, the same day that the lower house -- the Russian State Duma БЂ“ reviewed and passed next year's draft budget plan at its 2nd reading.

Boris Yefimovich, today the lower house reviews the 2003 draft budget in the 2nd reading. A day earlier the government communicated its decision to declassify certain expense items, connected with defence, national security and law enforcement in the Russian Federation. Subject to declassification are expense items for the current costs for maintenance and equipping the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, police departments, troops of the Interior Ministry and of the Federal Border Guard Service of Russia, as well as the complete expenses for the Federal Tax Police service. What, in your opinion, is the point of that move?

A classified military budget means theft and human deaths. Take for instance, the MI-26 that went down near Khankala when 118 people were killed. Everyone is wondering what is happening to our helicopters and why they are crashing so often. It turns out that no new equipment is being purchased.

Supplies remain a secret item. Why are purchases of armoured personnel carriers, tanks, helicopters, and conventional weapons classified? What is so secret about them? That our army is poorly equipped is no secret, the whole world knows about that.

A classified budget means a poorly equipped, poorly clad and poorly trained army. We do not even know how strong our Armed Forces are. I have inquired with the General Staff, and they replied: "In our army we do not even know ourselves how strong we are." Then I say to them: "Friends, each soldier costs money. Maybe, we should hold a census not in the country, but in the army?"

In other words, this information is not so secret.

The strength of our armed forces has always been classified as secret, and hence, they no longer know themselves how strong the army is. How, without knowing those figures, can one really form a budget?

How many homeless officers there are, is a secret. What the budget of the central apparatus of the Defence Ministry is, and how many generals there are, are also secrets. This is not actually a state secret. This is just a method to receive huge funds without bearing responsibility for anything whatsoever.

One-third of the Russian budget is taken up by the power-wielding agencies.

The deputies vote for something, the common people pay taxes, and millions of roubles remain out of the sphere of the public's attention. As it turns out, in the Pskov-based 76th Airborne Division [which is pioneering the transition to contract-based recruitment] the funds [allocated for the experiment] are being spent not on payments to the contract soldiers, but 90 per cent of the funds are going towards the construction of accommodation blocks.

Furthermore, the transition to a contract-based army is impossible if the budget remains classified. The generals will go on telling us that the army reform costs 300 billion roubles. Just you try and check it!

One gets the impression that the military has only just started stealing. What did you think was happening before? Why didn't you make them declassify the army budget last year, for instance?

Earlier there was a powerful defence lobby that had enormous influence over the Kremlin and the deputies. In the previous parliament [elected in 1995]

the leftists were always opposed to the idea of declassifying the budget.

The present-day Duma is controlled by the Kremlin, which is largely influenced by the power-wielding agencies. Fortunately, however, the Kremlin does not have complete influence. We have discovered that unique moment whereby, on the one hand, SPS has its programme of military reforms, and, on the other hand, an opportunity to have the defence items of the draft budget declassified.

How long did it take to negotiate a declassification of the budget?

We managed to reach an agreement surprisingly quickly. When the time came to vote for the budget, we [the entire SPS faction] unanimously agreed to vote against it if the military did not divulge defence expense items. Both for President Putin and for the Finance Minister [Alexei] Kudrin this proved to be a bolt from the blue.

A day before the house voted for the budget in the 1st reading I had a phone call from the president. I explained our standpoint to him, and he said that the following morning the budget would be opened. At half past nine [in the morning] Kudrin and [his deputy Alexei] Ulyukayev came and informed us that the military budget was being declassified.

You have said that 65 percent of the military budget has been declassified, and Kudrin, when speaking to the Duma, gave a figure of 90 percent. Who should we believe?

I can explain. This year 65 percent will be declassified and next year it will be 90 percent. This year they will divulge the monetary allowances, the budget of the central apparatus [of the Defence Ministry], data concerning fuels, foodstuffs, and the Pskov experiment for the transition to a contract-based army.

Next year information on the supplies of conventional weapons and unclassified R&D work will be released. Expenses for reconnaissance and top-secret research work such as the Topol-M development will remain classified.

And what is the situation with defence budgets abroad?

Do you know the history of European parliamentary rule? For 300 years European parliaments fought for military budgets to be available. For 300 years kings, dukes and counts opposed this. Eventually, taxpayers said: "Enough! We will not pay, until we know what sort of army we have, how much it costs and how it is equipped." From then on begins the history of parliamentary rule. Almost everywhere in the world budgets are open, in America as well. By opening the budget in Russia, SPS has achieved something of historical importance.

It is common knowledge that lately the president has been paying special attention to the programme of military reform proposed by SPS. Why is that?

After all, your plan was presented quite a while ago.

Obviously, the president does not want to be cheated. It seems he has grown tired of "Potemkin villages" in Pskov and falling aircraft in Chechnya. And here come people from SPS with a ready-made plan of army reforms. It would be folly to reject it. Besides, those in the Kremlin realise that the military reform should not be entrusted to generals. We have discussed the reform with the president six times. That is a lot.

I do not mean to say that our proposals have been fully and finally accepted. Yes, we do work with the Finance Ministry and the General Staff. Yes, this work has become constructive. A special governmental session is scheduled for November 21.

They have agreed with us that the [period of] compulsory army service should be reduced from 2 years to 6 months; that monetary allowances must be raised, while there is no need to build flats for soldiers. They agree that the law on the procedure of transition to a contract-based army is necessary, but object to deadlines for the implementation set by us and to the amount of budget funds necessary for that. It is still too early to talk of success.

Who knows, what is going on in their heads?

Does the General Staff openly oppose your plans?

Generals are not used to public control, and not used to being criticised by anyone. Besides, they do not care much for anything anymore. One is 57 years old and is due to retire soon, and another is even older. And here we are, pestering them; journalists criticise them, and the president and the prime minister are demanding things of them.

I am not against it if generals, including [the CGS Anatoly] Kvashin, take

part in the process of reforms. But they should not be the locomotives of that reform. If I were in the president's shoes, I would set up a governmental commission headed by the PM, which would be comprised of representatives from the Defence Ministry, the General Staff, the Finance Ministry, the State Construction Committee, the Security Council, and parties with some common sense. To begin with, a sociological survey needs to be held in order to establish how much the state should pay so that people are willing to serve.

At present, Putin is constantly holding sessions about the Pskov Division.

But then, is this really his job? Those questions should be under the  jurisdiction of a special commission. Otherwise, it will take us another 10 years to convert to a professional army.

But the workgroup has already been set up under the Finance Ministry'

Oh, yes. Sessions every week, just like prayers. In the time that has passed we have in many ways succeeded in finding a common language with the generals. After all, we have no desire whatsoever to quarrel with them -- we need results.