Pavel Alexandrovich Sazhinov was born on November 9, 1946 in the village of Seltso, Kholmogorsky district, Arkhangelsk Region, to a peasant family. There he graduated from high school, after which he studied in absentia at the Institute and worked at the PO "Northern Machine-building Enterprise" in Severodvinsk. In 1968, he was called up for military service in the Armed Forces of the USSR. After being discharged from the reserve in 1970, he worked in Murmansk-first on the Komsomol, and then on party work. From 1986 to 1991, he was the First Secretary of the Severomorsk City Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. From 1991 to 1993, he served as the Chairman of the Severomorsk City Council. In 1994, he was elected Chairman of the Murmansk Regional Duma.

Member of the Federation Council Committee on Security and Defense.

He graduated from the Murmansk Pedagogical Institute, the Leningrad Higher Party School, and the postgraduate course at the Higher Party School of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany. He is a Candidate of Historical Sciences (Doctor of Political Science).

Married. Has two children. The eldest son is an air defense officer. The younger son is a student at the Medical Academy in Arkhangelsk.

- Pavel Alexandrovich, at one of the meetings of the Federation Council, Russian senators listened to and discussed the report of Russian Defense Minister Marshal Igor Dmitrievich Sergeev for an hour and a half. What issues were the focus of attention?

- The Minister of Defense's report was objective, and perhaps more detailed and problematic than usual. In my opinion, this is particularly important. Not all members of the Federation Council have the same level of knowledge about the state of affairs in the Armed Forces. The report not only provided an assessment of the progress of the Armed Forces' reform, but also outlined its future prospects: what needs to be done to ensure that the country's defense capabilities remain at an appropriate level. All the main areas of reform were covered: the organizational measures taken in the Armed Forces over the past two years, the modernization of weapons, and changes in the command structures of the Armed Forces. The number of Armed Forces personnel was reduced to 1,200,000, the Land Forces Command was abolished, the Strategic Missile Forces were merged with the country's Aerospace Forces, the Air Force was merged with the Air Defense Forces, and the military districts were reorganized, with new formations being established in place of the previous ones. These measures represent a significant restructuring of the Armed Forces.

At the same time, the reform of the Armed Forces has also caused serious problems, primarily related to personnel. 90,000 retired military personnel are in need of housing. This has led to a redistribution of funds from the overall budget of the Armed Forces to finance organizational and staffing measures. According to simplified calculations, the cost of dismissing one officer is equivalent to the cost of continuing to serve him for an additional 5-7 years. As a result, funding has shifted towards retired military personnel, leading to challenges in financing the active-duty military. The situation has improved somewhat now. Nevertheless, the state's overall debt to the Armed Forces is very significant. Taking into account the outstanding debts from previous years, it accounts for almost half of the Armed Forces' annual budget. Of course, these debts are not solely related to rations and clothing. They primarily involve outstanding payments for electricity, utilities, defense contracts, and other services.

Along with the Ministry of Defense, the accumulated debts are a heavy burden for the regions and enterprises. I believe that this issue should be addressed in the most serious way possible. Naturally, the entire discussion at the meeting was in the context of the main issue, which is ensuring the high combat readiness of the Armed Forces. This includes all their components, including the strategic deterrence forces and the general-purpose forces.

- In your speeches, you often mention the need to establish legislative priorities for the development of the Armed Forces and take effective measures to support those military and defense organizations that play a crucial role in ensuring the country's security. Could you elaborate on this?

- The fact is that the state of affairs in the Armed Forces is, to some extent, equivalent to the state of affairs in the country; if the economy is in a state of decline or depression, then, naturally, this also affects the Armed Forces. In my opinion, when there is a lack of funds, it is necessary to clearly define the priorities for further military development.

It is no secret that in recent years, a significant portion of our funds has been allocated to the development of new ground-based ballistic missile systems, such as the well-known Topol missiles. From the Minister of Defense's report, we can see that this task has been successfully accomplished. Therefore, it is crucial to focus on ensuring that this system is not only operational in isolated instances but also widespread. In the meantime, while this task is being solved (it's not a one-day task), it is necessary to maintain the forces currently available in both the Navy and the Strategic Missile Forces in a combat-ready state. As for the Navy specifically, these priorities are quite clear: it is important to focus on strategic missile submarines before it is too late. Global practice shows that leading countries are developing their own strategic nuclear forces by increasing their naval component in the Armed Forces of NATO countries to 75 percent of the total nuclear forces, while gradually reducing their land and air components. Therefore, in my opinion, we should also move in this direction. Unfortunately, we do not have such a movement yet.

In such circumstances, our most important task, which I also mentioned at the Federation Council meeting, is to preserve the most combat-ready strategic units in the Navy, the Strategic Missile Forces, and the Air Force. Secondly, we must support the domestic military-industrial complex. During the Soviet era, the military-industrial complex accounted for approximately 70% of the country's economy. Of course, these enterprises were not solely focused on military objectives; they also produced civilian goods and consumer products. During the years of perestroika and afterwards, due to the lack of defense orders, such enterprises practically stopped working.

This is also felt in the Murmansk region. For example, the Navy's shipyards are currently in a dire state, with only 4-5% of their orders being for ship repairs for the Northern Fleet. The situation is similar at other military-industrial complex enterprises. Therefore, it is crucial to determine which enterprises we must preserve in order to maintain Russia's nuclear missile shield. This also applies to enterprises that fulfill shipbuilding orders for the Navy. I am referring to the Northern Machine-Building Enterprise.quot; and other shipyards and ship repair facilities. This also includes the preservation of military-industrial complex enterprises that produce missiles, aircraft, and the necessary equipment.

The Navy is burdened with the maintenance of nuclear submarines that have been decommissioned. Last year, the Government passed a resolution to transfer these submarines to the Ministry of Atomic Energy. We have been working towards this decision for a long time, and it has been implemented, but unfortunately, the long-awaited resolution is not being implemented effectively. This has led to a paradoxical situation where the Armed Forces do not have the necessary funds to maintain and protect these outdated submarines, and the Ministry of Atomic Energy is not accepting them. This could have serious consequences for the country, particularly in terms of the environment. Sailors need to be freed from performing functions that are not their own. Their task is to go to sea and protect the country's maritime borders.

Many members of the Federation Council spoke about the Minister of Defense's report, and they spoke passionately, providing many examples. Russia has bright minds and the ability to create new, state-of-the-art equipment, but due to a lack of financial resources, other countries purchase this equipment from us, and we are unable to equip our own Armed Forces with it. It is a shame.

- You said that the Minister of Defense gave an assessment of the progress of military reform and the current state of the Armed Forces in his report. How did the members of the Federation Council react to his conclusions?

- Of course, opinions varied, but the senators' general attitude was constructive: we need to pay more attention to the Armed Forces, and we need to reconsider the government's attitude towards them. That's why there was a proposal to continue discussing this issue with the participation of the Prime Minister, whose position plays a crucial role in resolving military issues.

In general, in my opinion, the past meeting was only the beginning of a new approach to the problems of the Armed Forces and the understanding of their role at the current stage. After all, each of us does not live in a closed space: we see, for example, the situation in Europe, how events unfolded in Yugoslavia, and how NATO countries and the alliance as a whole reacted to Russia's position, statements, and foreign policy actions.

I think that if we continue our discussion of the country's defense capabilities in the Federation Council, we will inevitably come to the conclusion that it is necessary to work more actively on legislation on military reform. This should not only focus on reforming the Armed Forces, but also on reforming the entire military sector in the country, including the military-industrial complex and the personnel support for the army and navy. In my opinion, military reform is much broader than just addressing the issues of the Armed Forces.

- How do you assess the current situation of the army and navy?

- Today, the state of the Armed Forces can be described as difficult, perhaps even with the addition of the word "very." It is true that they are on a "starvation diet." You can imagine how much the funding for the Armed Forces has decreased: 77 billion rubles in 1989 and just over 100 billion rubles in 1999, with a ratio of the Soviet ruble to the Russian ruble of approximately 1 to 20. In general, if we look at global statistics, the Russian government spends 10 to 20 times less per soldier than the governments of China, Germany, and France, not to mention the United States.

As you know, the main share of the budget goes towards salaries. Of course, there's no secret that these salaries are meager: since 1994, military personnel in Russia have been living below the poverty line. At the beginning of the year and since July 1, there have been slight increases in salaries, which have undoubtedly improved the financial situation of government employees, but due to inflation, I believe that these increases are very, very insignificant. Therefore, in order to fill the Armed Forces with truly trained and highly qualified personnel, it is necessary to significantly increase salaries in the near future. And, of course, we need to increase spending on updating military equipment and weapons. According to some reports, the current level of modern weapons in the military is around 20 percent, while scientists estimate that it should be at least 50 to 60 percent.

- The Security and Defense Committee participates in the development of laws that directly affect the interests of military personnel and retired Armed Forces personnel. What have you personally been working on recently?

- Over the past year and a half, a whole package of laws in the military field has been adopted - "On the status of military Personnel", "On Military Duty and Military Service", "On military-technical Cooperation with foreign states", the Constitutional Law "On Military Courts in the Russian Federation" and so on. As a member of the Committee on Security and Defense, I was involved in drafting most of these laws:

in the conciliation commissions or at the initial stage. Recently, the State Duma adopted amendments to the Law on the Status of Military Personnel in the second reading, which relate to the service of northern officers and the length of leave for conscripts who have been drafted to the Arctic. These amendments were introduced at my suggestion.

But laws are only one aspect of our work. The Committee's activities encompass a wide range of issues. For example, I received a response from the Government, where we, along with the Governor of the Murmansk Region, Yuri Alekseevich Evdokimov, had addressed the issue of the Russian-American agreement on the disposal of nuclear submarines that had been decommissioned from the Navy. According to the agreement, the Americans were financing the project and, consequently, keeping our shipyards afloat, which are responsible for dismantling submarines, including the Nerpa shipyard in Snezhnogorsk. In a message from the Ministry of Atomic Energy, signed by Minister Adamov, it is stated that the agreement between the Russian Federation and the United States regarding the safe and reliable transportation, storage, and destruction of weapons and the prevention of their proliferation, dated June 17, 1992, has been extended for another seven years, and all contracts previously concluded under this agreement are subject to mandatory fulfillment. However, in light of recent events in the world, including the Balkan crisis, there was a significant question mark regarding the extension of the agreement. I believe that this issue has now been resolved.

Here's another example. Currently, in the Murmansk region, certain military units are unable to pay for the bread products they have received. The reason is well-known - there is a lack of funds. As a result, the bakeries are unable to purchase flour for further production due to unpaid invoices. Consequently, the government has been forced to address the issue of repaying debts to these enterprises to prevent them from going bankrupt. Although it may seem like a minor concern, it holds significant importance.

We also defended the interests of military pensioners, who were trying to be deprived of the law-mandated indexation of their pensions when the federal budget was being drafted. As a result, 8.1 billion rubles were allocated for this purpose.

- How heated are the "battles" in the Federation Council when it comes to passing so-called military laws?

- The country's security and defense issues are clearly understood by parliamentarians. And not just about the laws. This was the case when the idea of creating an Association of the Russian Federation's constituent entities patronizing the Northern Fleet was passed with a bang in the Federation Council, and I'm not afraid of this comparison. This was also the case when some "hotheads" from the so-called new Russians were very eager to privatize the sanatorium-resort institutions of the Ministry of Defense. I have just been studying this issue, and I have outlined the problem in a note to the members of the Federation Council. I can say with full responsibility that my colleagues' response to the new "privatizers" was unanimous: no! There are many examples of senators making decisions in favor of military personnel based on their own experience.

- Such a powerful support for the interests of the army and navy can only be provided by a friendly and united team. Please lift the veil on the "kitchen" of the Committee.

- The Committee on Security and Defense includes primarily those who have volunteered to work in it. Therefore, to a greater or lesser extent, we are always in agreement. The Committee is headed by Alexander Ivanovich Ryabov, the head of the Tambov Region administration. It includes representatives from various republics, regions, and provinces of Russia. For example, the President of the Republic of Ingushetia, Ruslan Sultanovich Aushev, Vladimir Nikolaevich Shtygashev from Khakassia, Vyacheslav Alekseevich Vyuchaysky from the Nenets Autonomous Okrug, the Governor of Primorsky Krai, Yevgeny Ivanovich Nazdratenko, the Head of the Administration of the Voronezh Region, Ivan Mikhailovich Shabanov, the Governor of Kostroma, Viktor Andreevich Shershunov, the Governor of Ryazan, Vyacheslav Nikolaevich Lyubimov, and others.

We usually meet on the eve of the Federation Council meetings. We hold hearings on the most pressing issues related to the security and defense of the state, inviting representatives of the Government, the Presidential Administration, the Ministry of Defense, the Security Council, the Federal Security Service, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and other agencies. The Committee members regularly travel to the regions to familiarize themselves with the situation in preparation for parliamentary hearings or issues to be discussed at the Committee meetings. Last year, a commission visited the Northern Fleet. As for me, there is no garrison on the Kola Peninsula that I have not visited.

- Don't you feel indebted to the sailors? Where is the long-awaited law on the navy and the state shipbuilding program?

- If you're trying to accuse the Chairman of the Murmansk Regional Duma, whose region is home to the main strength of the Northern Fleet, of being unpatriotic towards the Navy, then you're wrong. I strongly believe that there is no alternative to the Navy in the Russian Armed Forces. Neither the Strategic Missile Forces nor the Air Force can replace it. So why don't lawmakers adopt a shipbuilding program or a law on the Navy? The most likely reason is a lack of funding to implement these documents. It's not enough just to declare in the program that it will take so much time to build such a ship and so much time to repair it. Although there are regulatory documents related to the fleet, particularly the submarine fleet, such as presidential decrees and government resolutions. Unfortunately, these documents are not being implemented today.

By the way, the replenishment of the Navy with new ships is only one side of the coin. The problem is that due to insufficient funding for ship repairs and armament maintenance, surface ships and submarines, which are designed to serve for at least 20 to 30 years, are being decommissioned two or even three times faster than they should. Therefore, in my opinion, the focus should be not only on building new ships, but also on increasing the financial resources for maintaining the existing ones. This is especially important for strategic nuclear submarines.

- But it's no secret that the Murmansk Region is in a much better position than other regions of Russia in many ways. This is largely due to the efforts of the regional Duma, which has developed and passed 54 important laws for the region's residents and businesses in the past year and a half. So, what have the Northern Fleet, the military personnel of the Leningrad Military District, and the border guards received?

- The Armed Forces and the Border Service are the responsibility of the Federation, not its constituent entities. However, we do pass laws that regulate the activities of local governments in the cities and towns on the peninsula where military personnel reside. The regional Duma also has laws related to the payment of taxes by businesses, including those located in military garrisons of the Northern Fleet.

The laws on the renaming of the town of Skalisty to Gadzhiyevo in honor of the legendary North Sea submarine commander, and the creation of a municipal entity in the village of Vidyayevo, the garrison of the nuclear submarines, were passed through the Murmansk Regional Duma. By the way, during the first visit to the Northern Fleet, the Minister of Defense, Marshal of the Russian Federation Igor Dmitrievich Sergeev, supported the idea of creating a closed administrative-territorial entity. Submariners should go to sea, and let the civilian authorities deal with the coastal issues (housing, kindergartens, and schools).

We also consider bills adopted by the State Duma in the first reading. In particular, we discussed issues related to the Law on the Status of Military Personnel and other bills. We provided our opinion. We regularly meet with the military and try to provide them with practical assistance.

In short, there are many problems that the Murmansk Regional Duma is dealing with, and which are somehow related to the service of the North Sea Fleet and the lives of their families in the Arctic. We are constantly working on these issues.

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