Georgia puts a modernized military on display

Warren Hedges 5/02/06

That Georgia's new showcase military base is built upon reclaimed swampland is symbolic of the army's efforts to shake the Soviet legacy.

The Senaki military base – located in the western Samegrelo region, not far from the border of the separatist territory of Abkhazia – is designed to accommodate 3,500 volunteer soldiers. The Ministry of Defense sought to show off the refitted base, as well as demonstrate the improvements made by the Georgian military, during April 30 ceremonies marking the 15th anniversary of the army's formation. Top Georgian officials, foreign military attaches and a contingent of journalists attended the event. Georgia has made the integration of its armed forces into NATO a top policy priority and the base is designed to advance that cause. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

A Turkish firm began the reconstruction project in April 2005. The well-groomed base now comprises 24 new buildings, with officers' quarters and a sports hall still to be built. When all is in place, Defense Minister Irakli Okruashvili estimates the reconstruction cost will be upwards of 37 million lari ($20.5 million).

That's a sizeable sum, given that state spending on the military for 2005 was 366.7 million lari ($203.7 million). Okruashvili said 17.5 million lari ($9.7 million) of construction costs in 2005 came from the state budget. He said an additional 9 million lari ($5 million) was provided by the Army Development Fund, which purportedly receives donations from patriotic businessmen. The fund, however, has come under criticism in recent weeks. Badri Patarkatsishvili, a media mogul who has had a public falling out with President Mikheil Saakashvili, recently charged that the government was coercing entrepreneurs into contributing to the fund. In addition, representatives of non-governmental organizations have complained about a lack of public oversight of the fund. "There is a big budget, a lot of money and equipment but a lack of information," military analyst Koba Liklikadze told EurasiaNet in an interview two days prior to the ceremony.

Okruashvili insisted that the fund's operations were "transparent" and hailed increased spending in capital repairs and salaries. He reported that personnel costs – including food, medical care and salaries – stands to become the single largest spending item for the Defense Ministry in 2006. The shift toward a volunteer army is primarily responsible for rising costs. In 2005, volunteers earned an average of $263 per month, as opposed to just $6 per month received by conscripts. In an April 30 interview with Rustavi-2 television, Okruashvili said that professional soldiers now account for about 70 percent of Georgian armed forces. He added that Georgia should have an entirely volunteer army by 2009.

Military specialists and government officials say the Senaki base has two primary purposes: to provide strategic security in a region where there was previously none; and to establish an engine for growth in an economically depressed region. Liklikadze, the military analyst, said in an interview before the base ceremony: "On an operational level Senaki is more important than, for example, Tbilisi. It is good to move activities outside of the capital."

A few analysts have speculated that the base could be used to exert political pressure on Abkhazia, but officials are quick to downplay this notion. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. Okruashvili noted that over 300 locals were involved in building the base, and that 100 local residents will be employed as full-time staff. "This base does not just have one direction attributed to it by narrow-minded people [saying] that we look towards Abkhazia," he said.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Gela Bezhuashvili, himself a former minister of defense, said in an interview with EurasiaNet that the base is in "the heart of Georgia" and "has nothing to do with the administrative border with Abkhazia." The minister added that the government plans to develop a similar base in Akhalkalaki, near Georgia's border with Turkey, once Russian forces withdraw from that facility. "There was a need to have one, full-fledged base in the western part of Georgia. There is an airfield here so it is a strategically important place from the military point of view. This is important for the security of the country," Bezhuashvili said.

Liklikadze concurred that the base is not designed to send an aggressive message to Abkhaz leaders. "If the government were to move [troops] toward Zugdidi then this would be a signal to the Abkhaz," he said.

Zaza Gorozia, presidential representative to the Samegrelo-Upper Svaneti region, said in comments broadcast by Rustavi-2 on April 30 that the thousands of internally displaced persons in the region "have been looking at this base with an eye of hope." Senaki resident Nani Nadarieshvili said the base opening had provided her husband with a full-time job as an electrician. "It has given people something to do, it has given them jobs," she said, adding "What's most important is that at the end of the month there is a salary."

Editor's Note: Warren Hedges is a freelance journalist in Tbilisi.