Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
February 14, 2005, Monday

UKRAINE WARNS RUSSIA

SOURCE: Kommersant, February 11, 2005, p. 10

by Ivan Safronov

KYIV DEMANDS THAT MOSCOW RAISE RUSSIA’S PAY FOR INFORMATION OBTAINED
BY RADAR STATIONS IN MUKACHEVO AND SEVASTOPOL

The meeting of the CIS Coordinating Committee for Air Defense took
place in Moscow on February 9; participants of the meeting discussed
the problems of co-operation in the cause of defending their air
borders. It turned out that the allies sometimes fail to reach an
accord. According to Colonel General Anatoly Toropchin,
commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Air Force, Kyiv demanded that
Moscow raise the pay for information of early missile warning radar
stations in Mukachevo and Sevastopol provided for the Russian early
missile warning system.

The state and prospects of developing the Unified Air Defense System
of the CIS set up by 10 CIS states a decade ago were discussed at the
meeting. Only Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and
Tajikistan continue developing this system (some 2 billion rubles
will be used to develop it in 2005, according to Lieutenant General
Aitech Bizhev, deputy commander-in-chief of the Russian Air Force).
Ukraine and Uzbekistan are co-operating with Moscow exclusively on a
bilateral basis, while over past seven years Georgia and Turkmenistan
have avoided any co-operation in the aid defense sphere.

However, in 2005, Moscow and Minsk will set up the Unified Regional
Air Defense System, led by a commander appointed by the Supreme
Council of the Union State of Russia and Belarus, Russian Air Force
Commander-in-Chief Vladimir Mikhailov said. According to Lieutenant
General Oleg Paferov, commander of the Belarusian Air and Air Defense
Forces, this commander will be in charge of all troops and military
equipment affiliated with this system.

Colonel General Anatoly Toropchin’s statement with regard to the
early missile warning system was a discord against this backdrop.
Toropchin told us after the meeting ended on February 9, that Kyiv
demanded that a raise in the pay for information of the early missile
warning radar stations in Mukachevo and Sevastopol provided for the
Russian early missile warning system.

Dnepr radar stations located in Mukachevo have been the property of
Ukraine since 1992 and are maintained by Ukrainian servicemen. As per
Russian-Ukrainian agreement data received by the radar stations,
which monitor the space above Southern Europe and the Mediterranean,
is transferred to the central command post of the early missile
warning system subordinate to the Russian Space Forces. Kyiv is
annually paid $1.2 million for this.

In the opinion of General Toropchin, this amount does not make up for
expenses of Ukraine’s Defense Ministry, primarily on upkeep of the
personnel, which is solely working to suit Russia’s interests. In
Toropchin’s words, Moscow must bear all expenses on paying wages,
medical and pension services of the Ukrainian military, who are
working at Dnepr radar stations. “Russia annually pays $5 million for
leasing Daryal radar station in Azerbaijan, while we only get $1.2
million for data obtained from two stations. This is unfair!”
Toropchin complained to us. The general thinks presidents and
governments of both states must eliminate this injustice.

The Russian Defense Ministry withheld any comments on General
Toropchin’s statement.