The Georgian army will transfer to contract service by the end of 2009, the Georgian defense minister, Iraklii Okruashvili told, speaking at the military base Senaki at the 15th anniversary of the Georgian armed forces. Conscription service is a leftover from soviet times, he said.
Conscripts create more problems and less capable than contract servicemen. Conscripts cost less to the state, but Georgia is not a country with a 100.000 army. Our army is much smaller, but it is more motivated, better trained and military capable, he stated.
According to the Georgian defense ministry data, the annual salary of each conscript is 129, 6 lari ($72), contract servicemen 5688, 0 lari ($3160). In general, state is spending 1803, 22 lari ($1001) a year to sustain conscripts and 7606, 48 lari ($4226) on contract servicemen, Kavkaz- press reports.