MOSCOW. Nov 20 (Interfax-AVN) - Moscow has called on the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to devote more attention to Russia's specific requests and not to prolong their consideration as before, a high-ranking Russian diplomat reported.
"Otherwise, this could complicate the timely implementation of a related convention on the destruction of chemical weapons," Deputy Foreign Minister Georgy Mamedov told a news briefing in Moscow on Wednesday.
Mamedov said that at a meeting with Chairman of the OPCW Executive Council Lionel Fernando earlier in the day, he informed Fernando of Russia's request "to report to the management in the counting on their understanding of the difficulties that arose through no fault of our own."
Russia's requests for funding for the destruction of chemical weapons, which were submitted two years ago, were considered only in October this year, Mamedov noted.
In addition, a number of countries that pledged to allot money for these purposes either broke their promises or tied them to political requirements, "which we find absolutely unacceptable," he said.
Nevertheless, Russia is doing all it can to honor its international obligations in this field. He recalled that under the convention, Russia is obligated to destroy one percent (400 tonnes) of its chemical weapons by the end of April next year, and all of these weapons should be eliminated by 2012.
Russia has significantly intensified its efforts to destroy chemical weapons recently, Mamedov said. In 2000, the Russian budget allotted only RUB500m (USD15.7m) for these purposes, while in 2001 over RUB5bn (USD157.01m) were earmarked for this purpose. "We have all grounds to expect that financing will increase even more next year and will assume a stable nature," the deputy foreign minister said. Furthermore, Russia can count on financial assistance from other states and organizations in an amount of no more than 30% of the required sum, he said.
Mamedov also said that Fernando recently attended the commissioning of the first Russian facilities for the destruction of chemical weapons in the community of Gorny near Saratov. The enterprise should start operating in December this year.
The chairman of the OPCW executive council "highly praised the preparedness of the facilities," Mamedov said.