How the Georgian army was financed

The West has condemned the Russian military for moving into Georgian territory, primarily into the port of Poti and towns of Senaki and Gori. The Georgian military completely abandoned their military bases in all of those cities. Saakashvili raised panic and evacuated civilians out of those areas, saying that the Russian and Ossetian forces will kill the civilians as a form of revenge for what the Georgian military has done to Tskhinval.

The goal of the Russian military operation was not to destroy the Georgian economy, which was not good before the war to begin with. The goal was to demilitarize the Georgian Army and to thwart Georgian military potential in the region. A lot of the captured military equipment the Russians took from Gori. Fifteen T-72-SIM-1 tanks, dozens of armored fighting vehicles, and artillery systems along with their ammo were captured. Part of the arsenal found in Gori was destroyed, part was taken to Russia.

From the military bases in Senaki, Russian troops captured 1,728 assault weapons. 764 American M4 carbines, 28 M-40 machine guns and 754 various modifications of the AK. Western media sources also say that the Russian military also captured 15 Georgian vessels, among them torpedo boats.

According to the representative of the Russian Peacekeeping Force in the Caucasus, there was enough high-caliber ammunition in Senaki to level all the Caucasus. At the Senaki base, during the time of the conflict, the Georgian Second Infantry Brigade was stationed. Georgian forces left Senaki after the Russian Air Force carried out air strikes against the air field by the base.

Anatoly Nagovitsin, the commanding General of the Russian Forces in the conflict said that 4,000 assault weapons were captured, not counting the ones destroyed and other military equipment captured. The American and Georgian governments have requested Russia to return the captured weapons. The Russian officials have said that they have no intent on returning the weapons, as they were captured during military operations.

Foreign investment in the Georgian military

According to the official statement presented by Lieutenant-General Golovchenko, there is written documentation captured by the Russian Forces that the tanks of the First Georgian Infantry Brigade (which played the biggest part in the storming of Tskhinval) underwent partial modifications in 2002 and complete modernizations in 2007 in Lvov and other cities in Ukraine. The same happened with the BMP-2s.

From official statements and reports to the UN from Ukraine, since 1999 Kiev has delivered 150 units of heavy tanks and equipment to Georgia. In the first report in 1999, among 11 other nations, Georgia was also listed as a buyer of a “Konotop” rocket cruiser from Ukraine. Then, there was a four year gap in military equipment sales from Ukraine to Georgia. In 2004, Georgia received six self-propelled 2S3 “Akatsiya” howitzers. In 2005, after Yushchenko came to power and the board of directors of UkrSpetsExport changed (responsible for Ukrainian weapons export), military equipment sales from Ukraine to Georgia increased dramatically. In 2005 alone, Georgia bought 15 T-72 MBTs, 12 BMP-2s, 10 BTR-80 APCs, six self-propelled 2S3s howitzers, six MI-24 “Hind” attack helicopters, and two MI-8 transport helicopters. In 2006 no sales were made from Ukraine to Georgia. However, Georgia still received two air-radar 36D6-M vehicles to control the air space around Tbilisi.

In 2007, Ukraine sold Georgia seventy-four T-72 MBTs, six BTS-5B heavy armored tracked towing vehicles, two self-propelled 2S7 “Pion” howitzers, eight L-39 training aircraft (can be fitted to serve as regular ground-attack planes). In a Georgian official statement to the UN, it says that it bought five units of the self-propelled 2S7 “Pion” howitzers, not two, as Ukraine stated. Also, according to the Georgian version of the document, they also acquired one Anti-Air Mobile System “Buk” and 48 Anti-Tank Guided Missiles “Kombat”. Also. in 2007, Tbilisi said that it bought assault weapons from Ukraine.

Looking at these statistics, how did Georgia finance all of this? Georgian GDP for 2003 was $3.91 billion, its external debt being 1.8 billion, or 40% of its GDP. Per capita income averages $700 per year. So how can Georgia buy these weapons? Simple – financial help from the West.

The biggest contributor to Georgia’s military buildup was the United States. During the period of 2004–2007, Washington officially gave Tbilisi nearly $600 million dollars. In addition to this, Tbilisi made a special fund in 2004 that accepted donations to develop its national armed forces. Donations can be made in full anonymity from private and government organizations, as well as NGOs and non-profit organizations.

The German Controversy

Recently, the German news channel ARD released a statement saying that Georgian soldiers were photographed and noted as using the German G36 assault rifle. Western reporters were actually the ones that took pictures of the Georgian Special Forces holding G36 rifles, made by the German weapons company Heckler und Koch. The director of the informational bureau in Freiburg – Jurgen Gresslin – stated that he had no doubt that the rifles in the pictures were the H&K G36 with the shortened barrel for the special forces.

The German Minister of Economics denied the allegation that Germany sold the weapons to the Georgians, as special documentation that is required for export is not on file and never has been filed. No permission had been given to Heckler und Koch to sell the guns to Tbilisi. Channel ARD, quoting the British Jane’s Defence Weekly, Heckler und Koch directed a request to the German government for sale of 230 G36 rifles to Georgia (200 of them shortened special forces variants, and 30 compact-assault versions). However, H&K’s request was denied. Although no permission was given, because it violates the German policy of not selling weapons to countries involved in territorial conflict, the G36 rifles appeared on the battlefield in South Ossetia. H&K could’ve easily sold the weapons to a third country, who could in turn sell the weapons to Georgia.

Conclusion

Ukrainian and Western countries did send weapons to Georgia. That is an undeniable fact and can be seen in videos and pictures that Georgian soldiers themselves took. The statistics of captured Georgian equipment speak for themselves. It is an undeniable fact that Ukraine plays a big part because its leadership truly wants to join NATO and become a bigger part of the US’s foreign policy. It brings revenue to the Ukrainian treasury as there aren’t a lot of other places for Ukraine to generate income. Ukraine played a major role in production of machinery and military equipment in the Soviet Union, and now there are lot of unemployed specialists and engineers. The best way to employ them is to put their skills to use in modifying and upgrading old Soviet equipment. Officially, Kiev will keep denying taking sides in the conflict. It is a matter of holding the Ukrainian and other governments accountable.