SERGE SARGSIAN: EXPENDITURE ON ARMENIAN ARMY IN 2005 WON’T BE LESS
EVEN BY ONE CENT THAN AZERI ARMY EXPENDITURE

YEREVAN, APRIL 11, NOYAN TAPAN. “A soldier should be filled with
feelings of dignity and patriotism rather than with revenge,” the RA
Defence Minister Serge Sargsian expressed this conviction at the April
8 meeting with members of the Union of Writers of Armenia. Asked if
maintaining balance with Azerbaijan requires the Armenian army’s
rearmament, the defence minister replied it would be more expedient to
modernize the armaments available. According to the Defence Minister,
maintaining balance requires considerable financial resources. He
noted that although today the Armenian army’s armaments are at a high
level in comparison with the neighboring countries, there are programs
of its rearmament, with stress being laid on modernization rather than
on purchase of new military equipment. In particular, about 1 bln USD
is needed to acquire 300 new tanks, that is, 10 times more than
modernizing the tanks. Serge Sargsian stated that the amount to be
spent on the Armenian army in 2005 will will not be less even by one
cent that the expenditure on the Azeri army but “it is a different
matter how and where we will obtain these funds.” As regards
Azerbaijan’s hopes for a big military budget, the minister noted that
“we have heard this for 10 years already, and will hear for another 10
years.”

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress