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Russia carrying out planned rotation of servicemen of its base in Tajikistan

The planned rotation will be over by mid-December, the number of the servicemen will not be changed

MOSCOW, October 18 (Itar-Tass) —— Planned rotation of the servicemen is conducted at Russia’s 201st military base in Tajikistan, a spokesman for the Central Military District, which controls the base, told Itar-Tass on Thursday.

“Retiring servicemen are being replaced by soldiers and sergeants who have undergone training as snipers, mechanical engineers and drivers, gunlayers, grenade launcher operators and scouts. In all, it is planned to replace about 2,500 people,” the spokesman said.

According to the spokesman, from 2012, monetary allowances to the base’s services are fixed from 10,000 to 16,000 roubles, depending on the position.

“The planned rotation will be over by mid-December. The number of the servicemen will not be changed,” the spokesman noted.

On October 8, 2012 in Dushanbe, Defence Ministers Anatoly Serdyukov of Russia and Sherali Khairulloyev of Tajikistan signed, in the presence of Presidents of Russian and Tajiksitan Vladimir Putin and Emomali Rakhmon, agreement on the status and the terms of the stay of the Russian base in Tajikistan, and a memorandum of cooperation between the two defence ministries.

The agreement on the Russian base in Tajikistan supersedes a similar document expiring in 2014. The agreement prolongs the stay of the Russian base in Tajikistan till 2042, or for a term of 49 years from the moment the first agreement came into force (May 25, 1993). After that date, the agreement may be further extended.

The agreement raised the status of the Russia base, its personnel and their family members to that of administrative personnel of diplomatic missions, in line with the Vienna Convention of 1961. The new status would mean personal and property immunity. “This is a very high level, which is second to the diplomatic status,” Russian president’s aide Yuri Ushakov said after the signing ceremony.

The document establishes rental charge terms. “Under the new document, practically no fee is charged,” Ushakov said. “We did not have disputes during discussions of the document. There were certain requirements from both sides; and we have reached a compromise. Tajikistan needs the base as much as we do for security in the region.”

The Memorandum covers “certain joint actions of the defence ministries for the near future,” the presidential aide said. It includes more active cooperation in military training and in other areas.