 During the early 1990s , some major units were disbanded and a lot of equipment was phased out or scrapped due to a severe shortage of funds . The whole land forces structure was reorganized from armies into territorial corps , and from regiments into battalions . In the mid @-@ 1990s , the situation of the land forces was critical : the military budget was three times lower than in 1989 ( <unk> million dollars ) , 50 % of the equipment was older than 30 years , and 60 % of the armoured vehicles and 85 % of the missile units were non @-@ operational . Due to lack of fuel and training , the level of combat readiness and military capability was extremely low ( only about 30 % of the entire land forces were operational ) . However , after 1996 the government took serious action ; the military budget was increased greatly , and modernisation of equipment commenced . Officially , the program to modernize and <unk> the armed forces began on 11 April 2000 . 
