KURGAN. Jan 21 (Interfax-AVN) - U.S. Consul General in Yekaterinburg Scott Rauland is hoping that there will be no delays in funding the construction of the chemical weapons destruction plant in Shchuchye in the Kurgan region.
The U.S. Consulate General in Yekaterinburg told Interfax that the consult expressed his satisfaction with progress in the plant's construction while visiting it earlier this week. Rauland stressed that chemical weapons destruction is a priority for the U.S.
During the trip, Rauland got acquainted with progress in implementing the Shchuchye project that Russia an U.S. are engaged in on a parity basis.
The consul also met with U.S. and Russian experts taking part in the construction and visited the recently built apartment block where foreign experts will live.
Sergei Kiriyenko, head of the Russian state chemical disarmament commission, said earlier that the deadline for commissioning the Shchuchye facility is pushed back due to delays with U.S. funding provision for the facility.
The construction of the processing plant in Shchuchye is a joint project in the sphere of chemical weapons destruction, which is being implemented on the basis of an agreement between Russia, the U.S. and other countries.
Construction of the plant's main technological shops is underway. The facility will not be commissioned before 2007.