FINANCE MINISTRY ON MILITARY BUDGET.

Russian deputy prime minister and finance minister Aleksandr Livshits told a press conference at the Russian embassy in Washington on October 2 that at least 90 percent of the military’s unpaid back wages –which he estimated at 10 trillion rubles — were covered in the government’s proposed 1997 budget. Testifying before the State Duma yesterday, First Deputy Finance Minister Vladimir Petrov said that the 100 trillion rubles budgeted for the armed forces would fully meet their requirements. Defense Minister Igor Rodionov had said this amount wonÕt even come close. (RFE/RL, Itar-Tass, 3 October 1996)

Azerbaijan Sentences First Batch of OMON Plotters.