Tuesday, October 4 2016 14:45

ArmInfo. Azerbaijan cuts off its military budget not only because of financial crisis but also changed international situation, political expert Manvel Sargsyan  expressed this opinion to ArmInfo. 

"Azerbaijan, which was actively increasing weaponry, did not expect  that Armenia also can get modern weaponry and ensure balance in the  region. I suppose that the Azerbaijani side has considered this  factor also when making the decision on the issue", the political  scientist noted. In this context he added that most likely Azerbaijan  will take it a step further and will review its military doctrine in  the nearest future.  Artsakh war hero, Major General Arkady  Ter-Tadevosyan in turn thinks that the adversary should not be  underestimated, as regardless of drop of profit from petrol sale,  Azerbaijan remains a rather rich state.

"I consider that military budget reduction is first and foremost  related to oversupply of military equipment in the country. In  reality Azerbaijan has much more weaponry than it declares and all  this weaponry needs servicing, which is very expensive. Besides, the  staff should be regularly retrained. Considering this and other  factors, including drop of petrol prices Azerbaijan had to cut its  military budget. However, I think that official Baku will continue to  purchase state-of-the-art weaponry", Ter-Tadevosyan stated. At the  same time he added that the Armenian side should stay alert. 

To note, according to draft budget 2017 Azerbaijan is going to  allocate 1 bln 615 mln 359 thousand 858 manats (nearly $1 bln) on  defense. This is by 613.4 mln manats (27.5%) less than in 2016. In  2015 Azerbaijan's military expenses were nearly 5 bln dollars.  President Ilham Aliyev was noting in his speeches that Azerbaijan's  revenues have declined 4-fold because of drop of petrol prices and it  is necessary to reduce expenses.