Russian Minister Comments on Military Bases in Georgia

In an interview with the Russian daily Rossiyskaya Gazeta published on May 4 Russian Defense Minister Sergey Ivanov said that Moscow will need ?at least four years? to pull out its military bases from Georgia.

?The issue is not when we will start the pull out, but when we will finish it. According to the calculations of the amount of military hardware and personal [stationed at bases in Batumi and Akhalkalaki] at least four years will be needed to construct proper infrastructure on our territory [for those military bases which will be pulled out from Georgia],? Sergey Ivanov said.

?But there is no funding envisaged by the budget for these purpose [construction of infrastructure]? Additional funding can be available no earlier than 2006,? he added.

He said that the withdrawal of military hardware also requires funds. But Tbilisi pledged to cover the cost of the transportation of military hardware from Georgia to the Russian border.

Ivanov was asked by a journalist interviewing him what the Russian side will do in the event the road is blocked by the local population in Akhalkalaki, who recently held two protest rallies against the pull out of Russian military base from their town – as the base is a major source of employment there.

?If the road is closed we will not go anywhere. Roads should be free,? Ivanov replied.

This post is also available in: ქართული (Georgian) Русский (Russian)