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Enrollment into military academies may be increased as competition soars

The influx of applicants to command academies is the highest: up to six persons per vacancy, Deputy Defence Minister said

© ITAR-TASS/Yuri Belinsky

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MOSCOW, June 29. /TASS/. The number of vacancies at Russia’s military academies may have to be increased in view of the exceptionally great competition, which is in some cases as great as 30 applicants per seat, Deputy Defence Minister Nikolai Pankov told the media on Monday.

"There are reasons to say that the prestige of the military service has become rather high. I have long been in charge of enrollment, and I can tell you that I have never seen a situation like this," Pankov said. The influx of applicants to command academies, such as the Blagoveshchensk and Novosibirsk command academies and the Ryazan airborne troops academy - is the highest: up to six persons per vacancy.

"Among women applicants the competition is 30 applications per vacancy. To the military university, 33 per vacancy. In the Volsk Logistics Academy and the Military Medical Academy the situation is the same. We will have to ask the defence minister to reconsider the current quotas. As a matter of fact, this is a contest among medalists having A-levels in all subjects.

"We are a little bit worried. We understand of the 30 woman applicants only one will get in, while the others will remain overboard. We cannot be indifferent to this type of situation. We will give thought to it and approach the defence minister with our proposals," Pankov said.

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