Navy General Staff postponed until at least December 2012 - source
ST. PETERSBURG. Aug 28 (Interfax-AVN) - The final move of the Russia Navy General Staff from Moscow to ST. Petersburg, which was earlier scheduled for September, has been postponed until the end of the year due to the absence of the needed infrastructure, a source in the agency told Interfax-AVN.
"Unfortunately, there are currently no conditions for the full-fledged functioning of the General Staff in the Admiralty in St. Petersburg. For this reason, officers and employees of the communications department had to return to Moscow," the source said.
"The General Staff will move to St. Petersburg no earlier than the end of this year," the source said.
In the meantime, Admiral Viktor Chirkov, commander-in-chief of the Russian Navy, told reporters he had been working in the Admiralty building for three months now and the other Main Command officers would move to the new place of service before the end of August. The admiral said over 100 apartments had been provided to them in St. Petersburg and all documents and equipment, including communications equipment, would be taken there by the end of August.
The Navy General Staff move from Moscow to St. Petersburg is expected to cost the defense Ministry 50 billion rubles.
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