Russia's Defense Ministry plans to sell off old military equipment at an army-themed amusement park in the Moscow region, the RBC newspaper reported Wednesday, citing a military official.
A display space and auction hall for surplus military equipment will open at the park in June and help the military free up space in its warehouses by offloading unused or out-of-date equipment, Dmitry Kurakin, head of the Defense Ministry's property management department, told RBC.
The military will hold auctions there every month, Kurakin said. The first auction in June will see 97 lots sold off with a combined starting price of 143 million rubles ($2.7 million) for some 1,170 pieces of technical gear, among them Ural and GAZ-66 heavy off-road trucks.
Large equipment such as floating jetties, passenger and cargo train cars and diesel generators will also be sold.
The military hopes the auction will attract farmers, extreme sports enthusiasts and hunters, among others, Kurakin told RBC.
All individuals and firms are welcome to participate in the auctions, with the exception of companies with government ownership of 25 percent or more, the report said.
The auction house will be part of the "Patriot" park, a military-themed amusement park now under construction to the west of Moscow. Construction began four months ago and will only be completed in 2017, but parts of the park will open to their first visitors this summer, the TASS news agency reported earlier this month.
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