KYIV. Feb 1 (Interfax) - Three million PFM-1 anti-personnel mines will be scrapped at the Pavlohrad chemical plant in the Dnipropetrovsk region before 2014 under the NATO Trust Fund/Partnership for Peace project, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry reports.
The ministry, the NATO NAMSA Maintenance and Supply Agency and the plant signed the contract on Friday.
The contract will be executed in the second stage of the project NATO launched in Ukraine in 2006, Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Artur Babenko said. Apart from anti-personnel mines, it is planned to scrap 73,500 tons of conventional munitions and 366,000 pieces of firearms by 2014, he said.
Some 22 million euro will be invested in the second stage of the project. NAMSA has confirmed the allocation of 100,000 euro for the disposal of anti-personnel mines at the Pavlohrad plant in 2013, the deputy minister said.
The United States is the main donor of the second stage. Other donors are Germany, Switzerland, Turkey, Ireland and the European Union.
The NATO Trust Fund/Partnership for Peace project for the disposal of conventional munitions, firearms and light weapons envisages the scrapping of 133,000 tons of munitions and 1.5 million pieces of light firearms in four stages within 12 years. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry said that 15,000 tons of munitions, 400,000 pieces of light weaponry and firearms and 1,000 man-portable anti-aircraft missile systems were scrapped in the first stage in 2006-2011.
In April 2012, NAMSA, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry and Ukrainian defense plants signed a framework agreement to continue cooperation in the disposal of munitions, light armaments and firearms under the NATO Trust Fund/Partnership for Peace project.