Position of the Army of Yugoslavia

Unconstitutional Body for Care of the Army

AIM Belgrade, 1 April, 1998

For years rumours have been circling about the poverty of the once powerful army (the Yugoslav People's Army). The real proportions of its poverty were publicly presented last week at the press conference by major general Zivorad Vujicic, head of the administration for finance and the budget of the Army of Yugoslavia, by offering to the public, which is unusual for the military in this part of the world, an abundance of information about its not at all enviable position.

General Vujicic confirmed that the average salary of officers and non-commissioned officers amounts to 1,454 dinars (240 German marks without allowances), civilians employed in the Army receive 1,219 dinars (203 marks) on the average, and soldiers engaged on contract 933 dinars (155 marks). Army salaries, besides, are received with a delay of two, and pensions of two and a half months.

More than 15 thousand employees in military service have no housing - they live in rented apartments. This figure includes pensioners who were "fortunate" to retire in the past few years when the Army was in every respect pushed to the margins.

Had poverty remained on the mentioned categories of army population, perhaps it would have been possible to patch things up somehow. But, soldiers doing their military service, apart from being unable to live without food, clothing and shoes, cannot live without water, electric power, heating fuel, PTT and other services, and the Army is expected to pay for all that regularly. But, what can it do when its cashbox is almost constantly empty. When signing contracts on delivery of electric power, gas or heating oil, other contracting parties demand from the Army to offer bank guarantees which, being a classical budget consumer, the Army is not able to provide. Besides, as opposed to the army of the former federal state, the Army of Yugoslavia does not have its own foreign currency plan, so it buys the foreign currency it needs in the market like everybody else.

How is then the Army surviving without experiencing total collapse?

General Vujicic mentions suppliers: "The main creditors of the Army are its suppliers and, thanks to them and their correct attitude, supplying of the Army and carrying out of its vital functions has not been questioned". This is a poor consolation for a delicate organization such as the military one.

If money had flowed into the army purse in the amount and at the rate planned when the budget was adopted, many problems which the army is encountering would have been taken off the agenda. However, the practice testifies that revenue and expenses are not at all balanced as they should be and that the inflow of money into the budget is more the matter of good wishes, perhaps even lack of knowledge, than the result of real possibilities.

Last year from the budget of the country, 6.5 billion dinars were allocated for defence, which is, as army planners claim, 2.5 billion dinars less than actual needs of the Army. This sum of money was supposed to cover all military budget items, from purchase of combat devices and drill, necessities of the soldiers, maintenance of infrastructure, to salaries and pensions, and financing of the ministry of defence. If expenses of the ministry are subtracted and the sum for army pensions, the Army last year took up 4.42 per cent of the social prioduct. This was further reduced for the height of the inflation and expenses of interest on arrears and court decisions, and decline of the social product below four per cent.

At the moment, the Army owes its business partners 875 million dinars, and on the other hand, in the chaotic situation of its domestic economy, it is unable to collect its outstanding debts amounting to 220 million dinars.

It is slightly mysterious why the General Staff presented these data to the public at the moment when the Chamber of Citizens of the Federal Assembly passed this year's budget in an emergency procedure because of the situation in Kosovo as it was explained mostly by deputies who have so far persistently refused the draft budget saying that it was not realistic. The situation in Kosovo can become even worse than it is, but the deputies should know where 6.55 billion dinars for the army in 1998 can be found?

Who is the General Staff addressing with this information? If it is addressing the public, it by no means has either the power or the possibility to change the financial collapse of the Army. Indeed, all information about the army were always concealed from the public, especially at the time when it was privileged in comparison with the other strata of the population.

In the past few months, more precisely since the election of Milo Djukanovic the president of the Republic of Montenegro, the Supreme Defence Council has not met, although it is officially in charge of the army. At previous sessions the question of financing the Army of Yugoslavia was often brought up. At the last one, on 8 January this year, when the members of this body were Slobodan Milosevic (president of the Council), Milan Milutinovic and Momir Bulatovic, and the "associated" members of the Supreme Command - federal prime minister Radoje Kontic, minister of defence Pavle Bulatovic and two generals, head of the General Staff Momcilo Perisic and head of the military office of the president of the federal state Slavoljub Susic. Like many times before, "it was concluded that financing of the Army of Yugoslavia will continue according to the planned rate!"

To Djukanovic's proposal for convening a session of the Council at which the hardly bearable material position of the Army of Yugoslavia would be discussed, nobody has replied yet. In the meantime, in the end of March, the federal government formed a permanent working committee which would take care about "improvement of the material position of the Army of Yugoslavia". In this way, at least temporarily - until Montenegrin elections, Milosevic has "removed" Djukanovic as his interlocutor in the defence Council.

General Zivorad Vujicic expressed conviction in front of the journalists that this body would actually contribute to "improvement of the material position of the Army". The general, however, did not seem to mind that this body was established past the Constitution of the country. He did not care to go into this type of discussion.

Stipe Sikavica

(AIM)