Military field accounting

Lukashenko took aim at Russia's defense budget

Today in Moscow the joint command and staff game, in which the Russian and Belarusian military took part under the leadership of the defense ministers, ends. The main goal of the exercises is to practice joint actions to ensure the security of the union state. But even on the eve of the arrival of Belarusian Defense Minister Leonid Maltsev in Moscow, Vremya Novostei learned that the parties would inevitably touch upon the painful issue related to Alexander Lukashenko’s threats made at the height of the oil and gas crisis. The President of Belarus spoke about plans to start charging fees for Russian military facilities in Belarus.

“Russia does not take into account Belarus’ significant assistance to Kaliningrad, the benefits from military bases located in the republic, cheap transit, protection of the western borders of the union state, as well as other services,” Mr. Lukashenko said the other day. Yesterday, he even announced that Russia will have to spend $21 billion if it suddenly wants to create “a full-fledged defensive group with all the necessary infrastructure” in the western direction without Belarus.

There are two Russian military installations on the territory of Belarus. These are the Gantsevichi Volga radar station for a missile attack warning system (previously this station near the points of Gantsevichi and Baranovichi was called Baranovichi) and the Antey radio station in the area of ​​​​the city of Vileika, which communicates with submarines. “Gantsevichi station is very important. It closed the gap in Russia’s missile defense after Latvia dismantled the Skrunda station in the late 1990s,” Belarusian reserve lieutenant colonel Nikolai Statkevich, candidate of technical sciences, told Vremya Novostei.

Leading researcher at the Center for International Security of the IMEMO RAS, Major General Vladimir Belous, told our newspaper that the construction of the Gantsevichi (Baranovichi) radar station began in 1986 near the village of Gantsevichi, 48 kilometers from Baranovichi: “After Russia lost the radar station in Latvia, the station was completed and entered combat service duty in 2002. The mission of the radar is to detect ballistic missiles, space objects and control over NATO submarine patrol areas in the North Atlantic and the Norwegian Sea.”

The Vileyka facility in the Minsk region is a powerful communications point for the Russian Navy. “It relays encoded signals coming from the Navy’s Central Communications Center to nuclear submarines, which can be located in all the oceans of the world,” says Belous. In his opinion, “after the US withdrawal from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in December 2001 and in connection with the Pentagon’s intentions to locate its missile defense bases in Poland and the Czech Republic, the importance of military facilities in Belarus for Russia’s security has increased even more.” “Moreover, these facilities are currently costing Russia almost nothing,” the general recalls.

However, our interlocutor suggests that Lukashenko’s attempt to “kick Russia once again” could turn against him: “The demarche of the Belarusian president could undermine the defensive potential of the union state of Russia and Belarus, although it still exists only on paper. All this is especially dangerous in light of the military advance of NATO’s western bloc to the east.”

According to our publication, this time Moscow explained in detail to the Belarusian Minister of Defense what else threatens Minsk by returning to the idea of ​​charging for Russian military facilities. “Lukashenko will then have to forget about free education for Belarusian students in Russia, about the supply of components from Russia for Belarusian military factories. And Belarus is a large defense workshop,” one of the knowledgeable Russian officials, who wished to remain anonymous, told VN. For example, the Baranovichi aircraft repair plant and others may suffer.

Another trump card in Moscow's hands is plans to create a unified air defense (air defense) system. They could be thwarted if Lukashenko dares to implement his threats. “They need a unified air defense more than we do. Belarusians need a Russian umbrella,” a high-ranking interlocutor added to VN.

Vice-President of the College of Military Experts, Major General Alexander Vladimirov reminded our newspaper that the agreement on the creation of a unified air defense system has been prepared for more than seven years. His signing was expected back in 2006, but so far this has not happened. “This is a big flaw in the Ministries of Defense of Belarus and Russia, although in fact a unified air defense system is already in operation. Russia supplied Belarus with four battalions of S-300PS missile systems in advance against a future agreement on a joint system.”

The expert explained that the S-300PS all-weather air defense missile system is designed to destroy all types of aircraft, cruise and ballistic missiles flying at speeds of up to 1200 meters per second within a radius of up to 75-90 kilometers at low and extreme altitudes. The market value of each S-300PS division is about $180 million. On their basis, the 115th anti-aircraft missile brigade was created, which since the end of 2006 has been closing the airspace of the union state in the west.

Mr. Lukashenko’s threats are more like a bluff also because, according to most experts (both Russian and Belarusian), Minsk will not be able to receive significant funds for maintaining Russian military facilities on its territory. Former Belarusian Defense Minister Pavel Kozlovsky refused to estimate the amount that Minsk could receive, but noted that Russia pays Azerbaijan $8 million a year for the maintenance of a radar station similar to Gantsevichi. The online newspaper “Belarusian News” provides the following calculations: “Some call it $7 million, others say a maximum of $200 million a year.” According to specialists of this portal, the maintenance of the Gantsevichi station may become less relevant for Russia after the full commissioning of the Voronezh radar station near St. Petersburg, scheduled for the end of this year.

It will not be easy for Minsk to bill for the maintenance of military facilities also because agreements on their free placement on Belarusian territory were signed in 1995 for a period of 25 years. As Nikolai Statkevich recalled, the decision to place military facilities free of charge coincided with another event - Moscow forgave Minsk a gas debt of more than $1 billion. “We must be careful in proposing a transition to collecting fees for the maintenance of military facilities, since Minsk’s losses may exceed its gains,” the Belarusian lieutenant colonel believes.

General Alexander Vladimirov, in an interview with VN, came to the conclusion that Lukashenko’s intention to collect payment from Russia for its military facilities “is a game on nerves, an attempt to put pressure on Russia,” but in general “no gas, oil and pipes should affect defense issues ": "Belarus can ensure its security only in an alliance with Russia."

Elena SUPONINA, Victor VOLODIN, Olga TOMASHEVSKAYA, Minsk