Moving of Navy headquarters postponed
Russian military authorities have postponed the controversial moving of the Navy headquarters from Moscow to Sankt Petersburg on “indefinite time”.
The moving operation, which was scheduled to start in the second half of 2010, now faces a highly uncertain future. A spokesman for the Navy confirms to Interfax that the moving will not take place as planned. Instead, the Navy authorities have decided to focus on “an optimization of the fleet structure” in Moscow, the spokesman specified, Kommersant reports.
It was originally State Duma Speaker Boris Gryzlov who in 2007 called for the moving of the headquarters from Moscow to Sankt Petersburg. He quickly won the support of both Sankt Petersburg Mayor Valentina Matvienko and Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov. It was decided that the moving would be completed by the end of 2009. However, that operation was postponed following the financial crisis and the lack of money.
Later it was decided that the headquarters would be moved in the period 2010-2012. Now, also this deadline is broken.
The idea to move the Navy leaders to Sankt Petersburg has from the very start been met by major resistance from Navy personnel. According to Kommersant, only 20 of the 800 people employed in the structures have supported the project.
It is now an open question whether the moving will ever take place. Until further notice, a 20-person representative office of the Navy headquarters have been established in the premises of the Admiralty in Sankt Petersburg.
