The center, the sixth opened by NATO in Russia this year, will have an initial budget of 400 million euros (470 million dollars), according to German NATO delegation chief Michale Gaul.

Germany initiated the retraining project within the recently formed Russia-NATO commission, basing it on the principle that a reformed Russian army is a safer partner for European states.

Russia has struggled for much of the past decade to reorganize its run-down Soviet-era force.

It has failed to find cash that would have to be paid to decommissioned officers, but hawkish generals had initially balked at the idea of allowing Moscow's former Cold War nemesis NATO to set up training centers on Russian soil.

Russia's Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad is home to a large military base that includes the Baltic Fleet.

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