The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has pledged to give Russia 4 million euros for the destruction of a stock of chemical weapons in Kambarka (Udmurt Republic). The money will be used to modernise the generators that power the weapons destruction plant. To this end, the Dutch ambassador in Moscow, Tiddo Hofstee, signed an agreement today with the Director-General of the Russian Munitions Agency, Victor Kholstov. This agency is responsible for the destruction of Russia s chemical weapons. Germany and the European Union are also making a contribution. The plant should be ready in 2005.

This is the second Russian project that the Netherlands has funded in this field. In 2002 it donated over 2 million euros for the electricity-generating system at the destruction plant in Gorny (Saratov region, near the Kazakhstan border). This plant has since destroyed some of the chemical weapons stocks.

Under the international convention banning chemical weapons, Russia has to destroy all its chemical weapons by 2007. Several destruction plants are being built for this purpose. Due to the high costs and the risk of proliferation, several Western countries, including the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy and the Netherlands, along with the European Union, are making a financial contribution. In 1998 the Netherlands concluded a bilateral agreement with Russia pledging a total of 11.4 million euros for the destruction of chemical weapons.

For more information you can ring Martine de Haan of the Information and Communication Department, +31 70 348 6072, +316 525 0230