ArmInfo. Azerbaijan cuts off its military budget not only because of financial crisis but also changed international situation, political expert Manvel Sargsyan expressed this opinion to ArmInfo.
"Azerbaijan, which was actively increasing weaponry, did not expect that Armenia also can get modern weaponry and ensure balance in the region. I suppose that the Azerbaijani side has considered this factor also when making the decision on the issue", the political scientist noted. In this context he added that most likely Azerbaijan will take it a step further and will review its military doctrine in the nearest future. Artsakh war hero, Major General Arkady Ter-Tadevosyan in turn thinks that the adversary should not be underestimated, as regardless of drop of profit from petrol sale, Azerbaijan remains a rather rich state.
"I consider that military budget reduction is first and foremost related to oversupply of military equipment in the country. In reality Azerbaijan has much more weaponry than it declares and all this weaponry needs servicing, which is very expensive. Besides, the staff should be regularly retrained. Considering this and other factors, including drop of petrol prices Azerbaijan had to cut its military budget. However, I think that official Baku will continue to purchase state-of-the-art weaponry", Ter-Tadevosyan stated. At the same time he added that the Armenian side should stay alert.
To note, according to draft budget 2017 Azerbaijan is going to allocate 1 bln 615 mln 359 thousand 858 manats (nearly $1 bln) on defense. This is by 613.4 mln manats (27.5%) less than in 2016. In 2015 Azerbaijan's military expenses were nearly 5 bln dollars. President Ilham Aliyev was noting in his speeches that Azerbaijan's revenues have declined 4-fold because of drop of petrol prices and it is necessary to reduce expenses.