Posted on 10/07/2014 11:33:46 PM PDT by wetphoenix
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's finance minister said on Tuesday the country could no longer afford a multi-billion-dollar revamp of the armed forces approved by President Vladimir Putin, stepping up a campaign to trim spending as sanctions over the Ukraine crisis bite.
Anton Siluanov said a new defense program should be drawn up to take into account the changed economic situation, even though the deputy prime minister in charge of the sector has been ruling out any cuts in military spending.
"A new defense program will be prepared now, and in its framework we want to reconsider the amount of resources that will be spent from the budget in order to make it more realistic," said Siluanov, appointed three years ago after his veteran predecessor, Alexei Kudrin, quit in protest over the proposed military spending.
Siluanov's comments highlight a battle among different factions of the government over defense spending which has heated up in recent months, and which will ultimately be resolved by Putin himself.
They could indicate the president is preparing the way to postpone or trim some defense spending, foreseen at 23 trillion roubles ($576 billion) in the decade to 2020 under his original plan to upgrade 70 percent of military equipment by then.
"Since all such final decisions are made in the Kremlin, the decision about fine-tuning of the program will be made in the Kremlin and opponents of the finance ministry's proposals to adjust it will have to obey," said Ivan Konovalov, head of the Moscow-based Center for Strategic Trends Studies.
"WE CAN'T AFFORD IT"
When the ambitious program to revitalize the Russian army and its aging equipment was first proposed in 2011, the government expected gross domestic product growth of 6 percent throughout the decade.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Sanctions and flooding the market with cheap oil may be a winning strategy in the long term.
Who could believe that cheap gas would prevent world war three.
They should spend everything they have on defense, every ruble. That way they can push the West around. They can show Russia is a superior race with a superior religion, and better dancers. They’re surrounded by nations hostile to them, like the superpower Latvia. The Russian people need to be afraid of the powerhouse Monrovia, too.
Oh, it’s not just cheap oil. It’s the pure genius and STRENGTH of the great leader Putin. He’s sooo smart and tough. Why should Russia try to have self-rule or laws when the whims of this once-in-a-lifetime leader are available to rule the benighted masses of Russia?
You certainly lacks understanding of European, let alone Russian politics.
Yeah, I’m not paid to shill for Putin on an American website either. Go sell crazy Putinista propaganda elsewhere.
What propaganda did I sold you today?:)
You haven’t sold me any. I’m not buying it. You know you’re always trying to put the Putin spin on things.
The naval modernization program will likely take the biggest hit. Subs get built, surface units get pushed back, would be my guess.
Most of the Aircraft programs are in coordination with either China or India, so they probably won’t see many cuts.
The real question is the Arctic Military expansion, to support new oil exploration/exploitation. It’s an ambitious, EXPENSIVE plan, and now almost completely home-grown, due to the sanctions. They are developing the tech as they go along.
Yes, I see it along the same lines.
they can t afford it .....
like we can ?????
print baby print.... just like we do... useless worthless fait that will be worth less than toilet paper if we dont STOP.
As the price of oil declines russia will see their economic problems escalate.
To just run things they need 100 dollar a barrel much less increase military expenses.
They have a neighbor that some would argue is a bigger threat that greatly benefits from cheap oil.
The seige of vienna started with less provocation.
Extreme remedies are in the works and the real facts will never be reported in the west.
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