The State Duma proposes to buy off the army
Vesti FM: Maxim Stanislavovich, hello!
Rohmistrov: Hello!
Vesti FM: Explain right away, has the bill already been submitted to the State Duma officially?
Rohmistrov: Yes, introduced. But he has to go through the newsletter, get opinions and feedback from the regions, only after that he will be put into plenary session. Unfortunately, the laws that are introduced by the LDPR faction do not go very quickly to the chambers. Therefore, to predict when it will be considered is quite difficult.
Vesti FM: But this bill has already been discussed at the meeting of the relevant committee?
Rohmistrov: Not yet.
"Vesti FM": And the date is unknown?
Rohmistrov: Yes.
Vesti FM: Why did you decide to come up with such an idea?
Rohmistrov: The point is that today all these various schemes using finance really work in this country. And unfortunately, the money does not go to the budget of the Ministry of Defense, but falls into the karmas of people who, we will say so, today use this situation for personal gain. We are categorically against it and believe that one of the ways to combat this, used, by the way, by many countries, will be to contribute funds. With this money you can recruit people who want to serve in the army and are ready to receive money for it. That is quite logical situation. As an example, I can tell you how you solved the problem of "criminal numbers" in the United Arab Emirates. There all the numbers that may have a certain alphanumeric phrase are put up for auction. There it is impossible to get numbers - by turns, not by turns. They are put up for auction and sell. And the money does not come, we will say so, in the order of license plates.
"Vesti FM": But numbers are numbers. And our security directly depends on the army.
Rohmistrov: This is one of the reasons why we cannot switch to a fully contract army - there is not enough money in the budget. Therefore, we are forced to attract young people to the service. Many people talk about social justice - it also exists. We have a contract service, there is a conscription service, there is an alternative service, when those who are not willing to hold weapon sent to community service. But we do not have liberation. And therefore, schemes are widely used today, when young people, who are just entering life, are forced to commit a criminal offense, bribing doctors, at military registration and enlistment offices of someone, someone at institutes. That is, we ourselves expand the field of corruption. When it will be official - please.
"Vesti FM": The General Staff put forward the idea to increase the draft age to 30 years. These initiatives have not yet been taken, but these conversations wander within the walls of the General Staff and for sure they are some sign. Is it possible that your initiative will simply remain populist and beautiful words?
Rokhmistrov: No. Why are these conversations going on? Because today we have exactly this method - as people say, "dodging the army", that is, giving a bribe to anyone - has become widespread. And we do not have enough people to serve in the army. As for the terms, can you imagine what kind of modern technology there is today? Well, I understand, of course, you can teach them to shoot a machine gun, but you can't, for example, teach air defense troops, missile troops to learn how to operate complex equipment. But we don't have enough money in the budget for contract soldiers. And today huge amounts of money go into the pockets of some officials, who use them to build themselves a summer house, buy a new car, improve their personal well-being, their living conditions, and go abroad for a vacation. These are huge amounts of money! And, strictly speaking, when we direct this same money to the same contract soldiers, we will cover the army's needs for specialists.
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