The creation of a new Ukrainian professional army based on contracts, will begin in 2014, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has said.
“Today is the first day of the last draft to the Armed Forces. This is the last year of military conscription, while in 2014 we will start to build a new Ukrainian army based on contract principles,” the president said after watching military exercises at the training ground in Yavoriv (Lviv region).
The head of state noted that today some 60% of Ukrainian servicemen do military service under contract, and that their number will increase soon.
Asked whether Ukrainian servicemen needed military exercises, Yanukovych said that any exercises are a way to sum up the results of annual work of Ukrainian servicemen. He also said that the government will increase the funding of the army’s training every year.
