22 April 2003

Assisting discharged military personnel in Russia In an effort to expand its work beyond the borders of the Moscow region, the NATO-Russia Centre for the Retraining of Discharged Military Personnel recently opened three regional centres in St. Petersburg (8 April), Yaroslavl (21 March) and Chita (22 April). Each of the regional centres is charged with providing discharged military personnel and their families with information on how to overcome the challenges encountered when adapting to new lives outside of the military. In particular the regional centres—like the main office in Moscow—will provide informational assistance on initiatives by existing regional training centres and the Ministry of Labour directed at helping discharged personnel find new employment and housing. Each of the centres will be staffed by a local director and an IT specialist responsible for maintaining the regional office’s web site. Attending the opening in St. Petersburg was General of the Army V. Boryshev, Commander of Forces for the Leningrad Military District, and Vice-Governor of St. Petersburg A. Beglov; in Yarolslavl, Duma Deputy A.A. Sizov and in Chita, Duma Deputy V.P. Voitenko. Two additional regional centres are scheduled to open in Perm on 13 May and in Kaliningrad on 4 June. Additional information: NATO Review: Helping turn Russian soldiers into civilians Background: NATO-Russia cooperation