MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 31st March, 2023) The German armed forces, the Bundeswehr, have already spent all the budget funds allocated for the purchase of spare parts for military equipment this year, the business Insider Deutschland reported on Thursday, citing sources in the Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support.
The 2023 budget of the Bundeswehr amounted to 51 billion Euros ($55.7 billion), of which almost 5 billion euros were allocated for the purchase of spare parts for military equipment, the report said. These funds have already been spent after only 64 days from the beginning of 2023, and the army command has informed the defense ministry about this, the sources noted.
The funds were spent on large-sized military equipment, uniforms, and ammunition, the report read.
In June, the German parliament and the federal council approved by a majority of votes German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's initiative to create a special fund of 100 billion euros to improve the country's defense capabilities, making the German armed forces the largest regular army in Europe. On January 27, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius told the Suddeutsche Zeitung newspaper that the special defense fund would not be enough for Germany to modernize its troops and cover maintenance costs for military equipment. Later, the media reported that Pistorius had called for an increase of 10 billion euros per year in the annual budget of Germany's armed forces.
