Food supply is currently one of the most important issues for the Russian Armed Forces. To find out what is the state of the solution to this problem, we turned to the head of the Central Food Department of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, Major General Anatoly Petrichenko.

- Anatoly Petrovich, your predecessor in this position, in an interview with Orientir at the end of 1997, stated that 1998 will be a turning point in terms of resolving food issues. What is the situation with food supplies to the army today, almost two years later, and is the Central Food Administration able to provide military personnel with food?

- The turning point has not come until today. We still cannot decide who should be responsible for providing the Armed Forces. But the beginning of 1999 to some extent pleased us - more attention was paid to solving army problems. On March 11, Yevgeny Maksimovich Primakov chaired a meeting on the issue of providing food to the military and equivalent consumers. At this meeting, all the problematic issues related to today were considered. It also addressed the issue of drawing up and implementing a schedule for financing the Armed Forces, the implementation of which was supervised directly by the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation. As a result, for the first time during the entire period of instability in financing, the schedule was fulfilled by 100% in March 1999.

But nevertheless, there were and still are unresolved issues. We, for example, have not yet repaid the debt to suppliers in the amount of 1.2 billion rubles. Moreover, when we submit an application about the needs of the Armed Forces, the Ministry of Finance does not take into account the debt and offers us the amount based on the daily rate for the number of personnel and for the number of days in a year. And the debt is cut off, as it were. But the supplier remains the same. Naturally, we start to have difficulties.

At the meeting on March 11, the issue of working only with the supplier - producer was raised. It should be noted that the commodity producer is experiencing great difficulties today. It has no reproduction or working capital. The intermediary who owns the money comes into play. So, at the auctions held immediately after the meeting, out of 26 suppliers who expressed a desire to participate in them, representatives of only 6 commodity producers ' organizations came to us[ directly]. And we won three. As a result, the remaining positions were closed by intermediary structures.

Working with intermediaries, as you can say, is somewhat more economical for the budget. The intermediary can make offsets, offsets, and so on, so its products will be lower at cost and its cost will be less than that of the commodity producer. In addition, the difference in the value of the contract with the intermediary and the commodity producer at the last auction reaches 4 million rubles.

But this is fundamentally wrong. We need to make sure that the commodity producer comes to the fore. And to do this, you need to make certain decisions, help him. It won't break the deadlock on its own.

Another unresolved issue remains the discrepancy between the real and estimated cost of food rations. For example, the cost of rations is fixed at the amount of 12 rubles 43 kopecks per day per person according to the combined-arms norm. The real cost of it is more than 28 rubles. We are in these "scissors" today. For clarity, multiply 12.43 by 30 days, and we get about 370 rubles. For this amount, at existing prices, you can buy, for example, about 6 kilograms of butter. If the cost of oil is calculated according to the prices currently used for combined-arms rations, then the serviceman should receive 18 kilograms of oil. Therefore, everyone wants to receive rations, not monetary compensation. This discrepancy causes a decrease in the norms of our food supplies and additional monetary expenses.

Of course, we find ways out of these situations. The first of them is permanent work in debt. We work with suppliers who still believe that the military will eventually be able to pay off. And so, when we pay off the old debt, the suppliers again lend us the goods. We also tried to work on offsets. But this system did not take root, as it is associated with a large financial risk and a long delay in time.

The second way out of the crisis situation is cooperation with government agencies. One of them is the State Reserve Committee.

Food that has been stored for a certain period of time is issued to military structures by order of the Government. Goskomrezerv supplies us with basic products: meat, cow's oil, sugar, canned meat, partially fish. We get flour from Roshleboprodukt. These are the main suppliers. In addition, we have established close cooperation with military state farms and subsidiary farms. Unfortunately, we also have a large debt to them. Military state farms also provide us with a large number of products. First of all, we are talking about meat. By the way, we have subsidiary farms in many military structures, but the situation is such that many of them are going through difficult times. However, there are some positive examples. The same divisional subsidiary farm in Naro-Fominsk and many others that provide themselves with meat for 3 or more months. And we have 152 such farms.

Another way out of this situation is to use long-term food stocks. After all, according to sanitary standards, they somehow need to be changed at certain intervals. For example, it is supposed to store sugar for 8 years - we keep it. But this period is passing, and we are obliged to check it and issue it for security. Here we keep within bounds. Due to the Government's decision, we are not allowed to lower our reserves below a certain level. We monitor the availability of our products on a weekly basis.

- After calculating the real cost of rations, for clarity, you did a recalculation for one type of product. And whether a contract serviceman can receive a food ration with one type of product, for example, butter, as in your example, or stewed meat. And if it can, how is it regulated?

- In accordance with the order of the Minister of Defense "On issuing food rations to military personnel and civilian personnel of the Armed Forces with individual products" No. 214 of May 29, 1997, a serviceman is given the right to choose to receive food rations either as a separate type of product, or according to the full nomenclature. Therefore, he can come and say: "Today I'm going on vacation and I want to get food rations with one stew." But this is, so to speak, an ideal case. This is possible only when the cost of products in the ration corresponds to their average market value. Currently, with the existing "scissors" in prices, this provision will probably have to be revised.

- And how is the issue of food supply for remote garrisons, for example, in the Far North and North-East of Russia, being resolved?

- They are supplied first. The provision of food for the Armed Forces is proceeding according to the plan, which is based on our needs and is included in the defense order. Military formations are working out their needs on the ground. Governors and heads of administrations confirm to us the possibilities of meeting them. What we do not cover with the defense order, we submit to auctions held both in the center and in the field. In addition, there are plans for the delivery of products to the Far North regions, which are chronologically connected with a certain period of navigation. The provision of food to such areas consists of two stages. The first stage is the accumulation of food mass, which takes place both in the center and in the field. And then, from May, food supplies start to be delivered to the Far East and Siberia, and from June-to other regions. Within 4-5 months, we deliver food for a period of 6 months to one and a half years. Food is delivered either by ship or by plane, depending on the type of food. But here there is a difficulty with the presence of special containers. This is expensive. Today, only a few suppliers can supply food in special containers. Another problem is the supply of vegetables. Some of them are sent in canned form.

"So, as you said, the outlying garrisons have enough food, or at least it's been sent out. And how can you comment on the regular delay and incomplete delivery of food rations in Moscow? Take, for example, the specific food warehouse of the Moscow Military District, which is headed by Colonel Yuri Smetanin.

- Funding and provision of all districts in percentage terms is carried out equally, primarily for those who eat "from the boiler". The Moscow Military District is specific. Its percentage of those who eat "from the boiler" and receive monetary compensation is very different from other military districts (1.5-2 times). Hence the existing difficulties. We cannot fully and proportionately fund these groups. First of all, both food and money go to feed soldiers, sailors, cadets, Suvorov soldiers, pilots, submariners, patients, and only then to rations for military personnel. That's why we can't provide for everyone.

-- Anatoly Petrovich, let's imagine a situation where there is a necessary amount of food in the warehouse, but rations are not issued on time. What should a serviceman do in this case? In addition, an interesting situation is emerging when some are given a full set of products for the entire amount, and others are given an "orphan" ration, as they say, for show. What is the reason for this?

"To begin with, this shouldn't happen. If deadlines are set, then no one has the right to delay the issuance of food rations, when there are really established products and there is a real opportunity to replenish them. This is strictly controlled at all levels. If such a situation occurs, you need to go to the command. And those who delay the issue will then pay out of their own pocket for exceeding the deadline. But at present, it is almost impossible to give out a full ration for rations. Actually - 25-50 %. Of course, there are some reserves, and it would seem possible to give them out once or twice, but then it will be extremely difficult to fill them up. And this is known to those who made a strong-willed decision to issue, then burned themselves and did not conduct such "experiments" again. No one has the right to leave soldiers without food.

There can't be a second one because the original data exists:

the first is the person, the second is the norm, and the third is the assortment. No one can violate the instructions. It's another matter if you don't have the right products in stock. In this case, the order of the Minister of Defense N 200 of 1992, which put into effect the "Provision on food supply for the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in peacetime", provides for a large rate of replacement of some food products with others. There is no buckwheat groats today - you can replace them with pasta. No macaroni - for barley " groats. If there is no barley, we will make millet. Everything is provided. No meat - there is canned meat. If you don't have eggs, get milk. No one has the right to change the ration rate.

- And yet, in practice, there is a steady trend associated with the issuance of rations in a reduced form. In particular, we can recall the incident with the telephone message of the Deputy Minister of Defense - Head of the Rear of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation about the temporary issuance of a truncated food ration, during which the military prosecutor of the Far Eastern Military District protested to the commander of the Far Eastern Military District.

- This issue needs to be clarified. The situation with the Far Eastern Federal District looked like this. It was necessary to carefully read the order of the Deputy Minister of Defense. He did not order the abolition of ration standards. It was proposed to analyze the state of the situation with the provision of food to military units, and the command was given to establish the strictest control over the targeted spending of funds. And if the food supply allows, as they say, give out everything that is necessary. But if there is nothing to feed the soldiers, there is not enough food, then the ration temporarily needs to be issued not in full, but in the amount of 50 percent. And give the food to the soldier. However, this instruction was given in connection with the financing of January-February for 1/12 per month, based on the financing of 1998, and these were amounts 5 times lower than required, and it was valid until the release of the order of the Minister of Defense No. 61 of February 13, 1999.

- By the way, how reasonable is the talk that today the issue of introducing two meals a day in the Armed Forces is being considered due to poor food supply?

- There is such a concept as " issuing food in combat conditions at least twice a day with the issuance of intermediate food." In combat conditions, when there is a war, in the active army, this state of affairs is justified. This is due to the fact that the situation does not allow you to give out food 3 times a day. Moreover, it provides for the issuance of intermediate meals, so that the serviceman receives the required daily allowance. So far, there has not been and I hope will not be signed a single decree on the introduction of two meals a day in peacetime.

- Anatoly Petrovich, what is the situation with the financing of food supply for the Armed Forces in 1999?

- I would like to emphasize once again that more attention has recently been paid to the army. It's a sin to complain, its funding has improved. We get almost all the money for our current needs; if it weren't for the debts that we have to pay off, it would be much easier. But we understand that at present we cannot be given more, and we have no right to demand the impossible from the state.

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