ASTANA. Feb 14 (Interfax-Kazakhstan) - The United States has assigned USD6m more to Kazakhstan to continue the disposal of intercontinental ballistic missile silos, U.S. ambassador to Kazakhstan Larry Napper told parliament members in Astana on Thursday.
An agreement on this matter was signed in December 1993. The United States has given Kazakhstan more than USD182m over nine years, the ambassador said.
Napper drew attention of the lawmakers to the protraction of the agreement's ratification by the Kazakh parliament. This may be happening because the document provides for tax and customs breaks for contractors implementing disarmament programs. However such breaks are not written into Kazakh legislation.
U.S. Congress believes that ratification of the agreement goes in line with interests of both sides, Napper said.
Member of the lower house of Kazakh parliament Askar Kabanbayev told participants in the meeting that U.S. specialists destroying the missile silos in Kazakhstan were only dismantling part of the equipment, leaving intact several radioactive components. He said that the dismantlement must be completed.
The ambassador assured the lawmaker that the United States would do its best to minimize environment pollution in the framework of the project.