MOSCOW. Oct 2 (Interfax-AVN) - Participants in a conference of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons will consider the extension of a deadline for Russia's implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention to 2012.
The Russian delegation to the conference, which will take place in The Hague on October 7-11, will be led by Russian presidential envoy to the Volga federal district and chairman of the Russian state commission on chemical disarmament Sergei Kiriyenko, the Russian Ammunition Agency told Interfax-Military News Agency on Wednesday. The delegation includes officials from the Russian government secretariat, the Foreign Ministry, the Defense Ministry, and the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade.
It is planned that part of the Russian delegation led by General Director of the Ammunition Agency Zinovy Pak on Wednesday will fly to The Hague to hold consultations with representatives from the countries donating the Russian program of chemical disarmament.
Under the program adjusted by the Russian government, the stockpiles of Russian war gases in the amount of 40,000 tonnes must be completely disposed of by April 29, 2012. This process is to go phase by phase. About 400 tonnes of war gases should be disposed of by 2003, 20% of the whole amount of them by 2007, 45% by 2008, and 100% by the end of April 2012.
Chemical weapons in Russia are being stored at seven arsenals in six regions, namely, the Kirov, Penza, Kurgan, Saratov, and Bryansk regions and in the republic of Udmurtia. The weapons will be neutralized at special facilities in Shchuchye (the Kurgan region), Gorny (the Saratov region), and Kambarka (Udmurtia).
Experts have estimated the cost of the disposal of the Russian chemical arsenals at some USD3b, of which Russia will cover 70%, and the donor countries the remaining 30%.