Agency WPS
What the Papers Say. Part A (Russia)
June 7, 2005, Tuesday

SERGEI IVANOV: WE WILL BUILD TWO NEW BASES NEAR THE RUSSIAN-GEORGIAN
BORDER

SOURCE: Profil, No 21, June 6, 2005, pp. 30 – 31

by Svetlana Babayeva

Sergei Ivanov: There are two Russian bases in Georgia nowadays – in
Akhalkalaki and Batumi. There were claims that Russia was not
fulfilling its obligations, that it refused to withdraw from
Georgia… It was not Russia that established the bases in the first
place, it was the USSR. It was a wholly different state with
different military views. These so called heavy bases were
established for the purposes that are no longer valid. We never
intended to stick to them. The problem was different. We needed to
leave in a civilized manner, without any encroachment on the
interests of their servicemen.

That was why the problem concerned time. We have an agreement now
that the process of withdrawal will be completed in 2008, and the
first base (Akhalkalaki, on the border with Armenia) will be
withdrawn in 2007.

It should be added as well that we began preparations for the
withdrawal even before the agreement with Georgia was signed. The
matter concerns complicated military, engineering, and transport
tasks. We will have to withdraw almost 2,500 servicemen with their
families, and they all need apartments to move into.

Question: We are talking of about 6,000 people in all, aren’t we?

Sergei Ivanov: Yes. Not to mention 2,500 vehicles and 80,000 tons of
munitions and equipment. That is why when I hear phrases like “Why do
you persist? You could do it in a single month!”, I invariably take
it as a distortion of facts, deliberate or not. I have just given you
an account of what is to be accomplished. We will do it. We will
withdraw everything, down to the last spoon. All objects will be sold
to the Georgians.

The next question that worries the Russians concerns their security,
the effect this withdrawal will have on it…

Question: I take it that security will not be affected, right?

Sergei Ivanov: We have 3.5 years to build two new bases on our own
territory. They will be located near the Russian-Georgian border. One
base will be established in the Botlikh district of Dagestan not far
from where the borders of Russia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan meet, the
other in Karachaevo-Cherkessia. It will be different bases, different
in quality. They will be established in the mountains and manned by
brigades of mountaineers that do not need tanks or armored personnel
carriers but need helicopters. The bases and their personnel will
cooperate with border guards to secure our territory and make it safe
from terrorists in Georgia.

Question: But Chechnya is nearby too…

Sergei Ivanov: It is, but the future bases will have nothing to do
with it. In Chechnya we have the 42nd Division staffed with contract
servicemen. The military part of the counter-terrorism operation is
over no matter what may be said to the contrary. The Division is
mostly involved in combat training and not in active hostilities.

Question: Will Georgia participate in the funding of the withdrawal?

Sergei Ivanov: We have never brought up the matter and do not intend
to.

Question: Any third country then?

Sergei Ivanov: We have not brought it up. There was a period in the
course of our negotiations with Georgia when we were saying: if you
think the withdrawal takes too long, we could probably speed it up
with foreign funding. In any case, this is what we agreed upon: the
Russian Finance Ministry will provide money (not of the military
budget) for rapid formation of two brigades, construction of
tenements for servicemen, and transportation.

Question: Will all military hardware be withdrawn to Russia?

Sergei Ivanov: Some of the gear from Akhalkalaki will be transferred
to the Russian base in Gyumri, Armenia. I mean trucks and some battle
infantry vehicles. All of that will be done in accordance with the
modified Treaty on Conventional Arms in Europe. All flanking
limitations quotas will be observed. All the rest will be shipped to
Russia. Gear and military hardware from the Akhalkalaki base will
travel to Batumi to be loaded on ships there and be brought to
Novorossiisk. It is easier with the Batumi base which is already on
the sea shore.

Question: Have you settled all matters in Russia? I mean, did you
make the decision on who would be contracted to build new bases or
when the new tenements for servicemen were to appear?

Sergei Ivanov: Yes, all these matters have been settled. There is
only one question that has to be answered yet. I’m talking about
heavy military hardware that will be pulled out. We do not need it in
the mountains…

Translated by A. Ignatkin