Журнал Viche 2010 №7

№7, 2010

In “Area” of Conversion or How Should Army Lose its ballast?

Reduction and development of Military Powers of Ukraine foresees not only transition to the contract army but also conversion of munition, bases, settlements, i.e. change of the end purpose of former military facilities.

In accordance with official data of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, in Odessa region today there are 187 cantonments from which over 80 have already been disengaged. Although, local authorities don’t hurry to add them to the community property. Provision of excess military facilities costs one million to the state budget. Under the conditions of chronic underfunding of Military Powers military bases and settlements lose their investment attractiveness and transform in a kind of “area” for local “stalkers” – property plunderers. What should we do with this? 

On these and other questions of our correspondent the general director of the State enterprise “Ukrspetskonversiya” Yuriy KONYUCHOV answers: 

– Exactly for this purpose our enterprise was created in 2002 so that simultaneously with the implementation of the program of social and professional adaptation of servicemen the conversion of cantonments could be carried out, – he explains – as for me, I’m a professional military man, colonel of reserve, and I know not from gossips the problems of garrisons where territories and military facilities are disengaged.

At first we “locked” ourselves in the National Coordinating Center of Adaptation of Servicemen, who were redundant to reserve or retirement, and conversions of military facilities and got 8 settlements in Odessa region, which before belonged to the Ministry of Defense, the MIA and SI “Ukrcosmos”. And all this – in accordance with the program of conversion... 

The neglected small towns were passed to us. Although, after we had taken carefully thought out conversion measures at these military facilities, our enterprise earned quite good money for the state which through the Fund of National Property received over UAH 5 million! But it is only a small part of what in actual fact could have been done.