Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – President Megawati Sukarnoputri is eyeing Romanian tanks and other military hardware to beef up Indonesia's military strength, yet few know how she plans to pay for the purchases.

As she continues with her trip to Romania, Russia and Poland, reports have said that Jakarta will sign a memorandum of understanding with Moscow for four Sukhoi interceptor jets worth US$120 million.

She will also be shopping for fighter jets, helicopters and tanks during her visit to Poland – a bid to mitigate the consequences of the military embargo imposed on her country by the United States.

After talks on possible arms cooperation with Romanian President Ion Iliescu, Ms Megawati left Romania yesterday for Russia, where she is scheduled to meet President Vladimir Putin. After visiting Russia, she will go to Poland.

Military analysts believe that Ms Megawati could offer counter-trade deals – which could be difficult to negotiate – or simply pay from the Budget and take from the emergency funds for other military needs. But given the ill health of Indonesia's Budget, questions are being raised about the purchases, given other pressing military needs. Some parliamentarians are also complaining that they have not been consulted on the matter.

Counter-trade deals had been used in the past by former president Suharto. He entered into such a deal with Russia, exchanging commodities such as palm oil, toys and stationery for fighter jets and helicopters. The deal, however, fell apart as the economic crisis worsened.

Last year, during a trip to the Balkans, Ms Megawati offered palm oil and natural rubber to Croatian President Stjepan Mesic in exchange for arms.

No details are available as to what she would offer for her current purchases, but analysts doubt if her counter-trade offer would receive much enthusiasm, for the east European countries are also in need of cash.

The other option would be to use funds earmarked for defence expenses – a kitty of 13.9 trillion rupiah. Military analyst Rizal Sukma told The Straits times: "The government has no other choice but to fund the weapons purchase with the military Budget. What it will likely do to cover the shortage of fund is finance the military operation and troop deployments with off-Budget funds."

He was referring to the money set aside by government offices and state-owned companies for emergency funds. "The prices offered by these countries are much lower, and Indonesia desperately needs to replace its military hardware, which is outrageously and dangerously out of date," he said.

While no one is denying that, parliamentarians – among them Mr Ibrahim Ambong, who heads the commission which deals with military purchases – and even officials are wondering why they had not been consulted. The director-general of Budget in the Finance Ministry, Mr Anshari Ritonga, has said he was not aware where the money to pay for the purchases would come from.

With hundreds of thousands of troops deployed in troubled areas, and with the likelihood of a military operation in the separatist province of Aceh, there is mounting concern about how the military would meet all its growing needs.