Defense Minister of Ukraine Yuri Yekhanurov claims it’s impossible to turn the Ukrainian Armed Forces into a contract army till January 1, 2009.
According to an UNIAN correspondent, Defense Minister of Ukraine Yuri Yekhanurov claimed this to a press conference in Kyiv, commenting on the today’s statement of Prime Minister of Ukraine Yulia Tymoshenko who said it is quite possible to transfer to a contract army by the end of the year.
According to Yuri Yekhanurov, to fulfill this task, it is necessary to enlist during a couple of months around 30 thousand military men who will serve on contract. At the same time, he informed that during the whole current year, the number of military men serving on contract increased just by 1211 people, and made up 53 thousand people, while the need is 80 thousand.
“It is impossible to fulfill this task till the beginning of 2009, considering the current insufficient volumes of financing. I can’t promise you anything until I see the decision of the Ukrainian parliament about a real financing of this sphere”, Yuri Yekhanurov said.
