CHISINAU. June 25 (Interfax-AVN) - The second batch of equipment purchased by the OSCE for scrapping ammunition of the Russian operational troops group in the Trans-Dniestr region was delivered from Germany to Chisinau on Tuesday, head of the OSCE mission in Moldova David Swartz told reporters.
The OSCE has effectively implemented its obligations, and the ammunition scrapping will begin as soon as Moscow and Tiraspol remove obstacles in the way of the equipment's delivery and installation at the troops group's storehouses in the village of Kolbaso, Swartz said.
Ammunition of the former 14th Russian army is disposed of in the framework of agreements on Russian troops' withdrawal from the Trans-Dniestr region reached at the OSCE summit in Istanbul in 1999. The storehouses in Kolbasno originally contained more than 40,000 tonnes of ammunition. A part of it is being withdrawn to Russia, but 26,000 tonnes are not subject to transportation and will be destroyed on the spot.
The first to be delivered to Moldova was the Donovan detonation chamber that has been idling near Chisinau for 2.5 months. The Lythe chamber that was brought to Chisinau on Tuesday will also be stored here for an undetermined period of time, which arouses serious concern of the OSCE, Swartz said.
He said the Trans-Dniestr authorities had assured him that they would authorize the chamber's delivery to the breakaway region as soon as financial problems with Moscow were settled.
A source in the Trans-Dniestr government told Interfax-AVN that Tiraspol was insisting on compensation from Russia for the withdrawal and destruction of the ammunition. The Trans-Dniestr authorities consider all materiel of the former 14th army property of the Trans-Dniestr people that the Russian military are using on a temporary basis. That is why they want reimbursement for the materiel in case it is taken out of the republic.
As a reimbursement, the authorities want Russia to write off a part of the Trans-Dniestr region's debt for the Russian gas. The debt totals USD700m, according to Trans-Dniestr experts.