PARLIAMENTARY LEADER WANTS MORE MONEY FOR DEFENSE.

The chairman of the Russian Duma’s Defense Committee said on December 17 that the 80 trillion rubles allocated for defense in 1996 failed to meet the army’s minimal needs, and that his committee will work to raise defense spending in the 1997 budget to at least 160 trillion rubles. (Interfax, December 17) Russia’s Defense Ministry had originally requested 230 trillion rubles in 1997, and later lowered that figure to 160 trillion. The government has earmarked just over 100 trillion rubles for defense in 1997.

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