Official Kremlin Int’l News Broadcast
August 10, 2006 Thursday

INTERVIEW ON RUSSIAN MILITARY BASES, RUSSIAN NAVY WITH MIKHAIL
BABICH, DEPUTY CHAIR OF THE STATE DUMA COMMITTEE FOR DEFENSE GAZETA
DAILY, P. 5, AUGUST 10, 2006

DEPUTY CHAIRMAN OF THE STATE DUMA DEFENSE COMMITTEE MIKHAIL BABICH:
"IF WE CAN’T USE OUR FLEET AT A TIME OF CRISIS, WHAT’S THE POINT OF
KEEPING IT THERE?" Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Defense
Committee and the head of the State Duma Working Group on Legislative
Support for the Operation, Financial Welfare and Social Guarantees of
Military Servicemen, Civilian Personnel and Their Dependents, Mikhail
Babich, speaks in an interview with Gazeta correspondent Madina
Shavlokhova about how the legislative branch plans to solve the
problems facing the military.

Q: How many military bases does Russia have in the near abroad now?

A: There are three to four bases in Central Asia. There are bases in
Armenia, Belarus and Ukraine. The Russian Black Sea Fleet is
stationed in Sevastopol.

Q: Has the status of our bases outside the country been determined?

A: Yes. There are international agreements ratified by the
parliaments of all countries where we have our military contingents.
Everything is all right with their legal status. But there are some
problems in details.

Q: Where do we have most of all problems?

A: In Ukraine. But politics have nothing to do with this. There are
other reasons that come to the fore. For example, the size of the
lease payment for the use of the Black Sea Fleet’s base.

Q: Wasn’t the size of the lease payment determined in the middle of
the 1990s when the agreement on the division of the Black Sea Fleet
between Russia and Ukraine was signed?

A: It was. We divided the Fleet in accordance with the previously
agreed-upon terms. The size of the lease payment was determined in
1997. But today our Ukrainian colleagues say the economic situation
has changed and the lease payment should be much higher. This is
wrong because Russia, as a legal successor to the Soviet Union,
assumed many obligations and honors them.

Our position is clear: increasing the lease payment for the Black Sea
Fleet’s base is out of the question. One must not forget whose
financial resources have been invested in the development of this
base and who paid Ukraine’s debts to the European Union for the use
of the Black Sea.

Q: Is this where our disagreements with Ukraine end?

A: I wish it were so! There are many disagreements over social
guarantees to military servicemen, the privatization of their
housing, and dual citizenship of our military.

The State Duma Defense Committee, jointly with the Defense Ministry
of Russia, has prepared two bills: "On Social Guarantees for Military
Servicemen Undergoing Military Service in Military Units of the
Russian Federation Stationed in the Territories of the Republic of
Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan, and Civilian Personnel of These
Units" and "On the Terms of Mandatory Pension, Social, and Health
Insurance of Civilian Personnel, Members of Military Families within
Military Units of the Russian Federation Deployed in the Territories
of CIS Member States."

The first bill has gone through all stages approval in the government
and will be submitted to the State Duma this fall. The draft budget
for 2007 already envisages funds for its implementation. The second
bill has not yet been discussed with ministries.

Q: Several years ago our ships stationed in the Sevastopol Bay were
not let out to take part in military exercises. Has anything changed?

A: We no longer have such acute situations. But then, the Fleet is
different and Russia’s policy is tougher. I can hardly imagine any
forces trying to prevent our Fleet from carrying out its missions.
And yet from time to time there emerge different frictions over the
use of military infrastructure, airspace or training ranges.

Q: Can the Russian Fleet be used for psychological pressure in an
international conflict, for example in the Georgian-Abkhazian
conflict?

A: This is one of the disputable issues. For example, there is an
emergency situation where the Fleet has to be used for its direct
purpose. Our Ukrainian colleagues think that if Ukraine assumes a
neutral position in such a conflict, Russia may not use its Black Sea
Fleet. And if Russia does otherwise, Ukraine will press for an early
withdrawal of the Russian Fleet from its territory. A fleet or any
military unit is deployed in a certain place in order to be used in
the interests of the state wherever necessary. There are relevant
international practices. If we cannot use our fleet at a time of
crisis, what’s the point of keeping it there."