MOSCOW, November 9 (RIA Novosti) - Russian President Vladimir Putin attended a conference of the Armed Forces' command staff in the Defense Ministry Wednesday demanding that the government ensure that the Armed Forces not be commercialized. "I want to draw your attention to preventing the Armed Forces' material base from being used to solve commercial tasks," the president said.
Military pay and allowances for the Russian Armed Forces will be raised by 67% in the next three years, with a 15% raise planned for January 1, 2006, the president said.
Pensions for veterans will be raised accordingly, he said.
Putin said the country's economy was robust enough to increase spending on the development of the armed forces.
Putin said that by the end of 2015, the percentage of military spending invested in the development of the army and the navy should be raised to 70%, with the remaining 30% for maintenance.
"Only in this way will we be able to advance in substantial technical modernization of the armed forces, rather than patching up holes," the president said.
Putin said the Prosecutor General office and that of the military prosecutor would continue checking up the legality of certain practices in the Armed Forces, including hazing.
He confirmed plans to reduce the conscription service term to 12 months, beginning January 1, 2008.
"We must, without cutting the combat efficiency of the army and navy, ensure the reduction of the conscription service term to 12 months from January 1, 2008," Putin said.
Putin said it was necessary to pay heed to training Armed Forces units to take part in counter terrorist operations.
He also highlighted progress in improving Russia's nuclear deterrent and said trials had been conducted on weapons systems that could beat all existing anti-missile defense complexes and those in the design stage.
Russia's permanent combat readiness units should be armed with cutting-edge weapons, Putin said.
"Special attention should be paid to equipping the Russian Army permanent combat readiness units with high-accuracy weapons and effective reconnaissance and electronic warfare systems, as well as automated command-and-control systems," he said.
Putin said the Russian Army must constantly be prepared to provide global stability and protect Russia from any military-political pressure or military intimidation.
Russia's spending on weapons and military hardware in 2006 will grow 1.5 times against 2005, Putin said.
"I understand that this is a very difficult task," the president said about military modernization. "I had a detailed discussion of this issue with the defense minister, the chief of the General Staff, the prime minister and other departments. This is a difficult task, but it should be solved."
Putin said the armed forces had witnessed a switch from a stage of prolonged transformation to a stage of planned military development this year.
"These have been hard years for the country, army and navy... We lived under conditions of unending conflict in the North Caucasus and were unable to solve one problem at a time. It's pleasant to note that the armed forces are starting rhythmic work," Putin said.
He said the Defense Ministry had managed to improve the quality of command over troops and forces, and that the Armed Forces had been quite effective in countering the recent attack on Nalchik, the capital of Kabardino-Balkaria in the North Caucusus.
