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Untitled Document Czechs Join with UK To Destroy Russian Chemical Weapons Ministry of Defense of the United Kingdom October 16, 2003
The UK has welcomed the contribution of the Czech Republic to a Ministry of Defence-led project helping Russia to destroy its lethal chemical weapons stocks.
The Czech Republic will provide around £45,000 towards construction of an electricity substation that will support the chemical weapons (CW) destruction facility at Shchuch'ye, in the Urals. Around four million Russian CW artillery munitions will be destroyed at Shchuch'ye.
The electricity supply project follows the UK's first project at Shchuch'ye, which was construction of a water supply for the destruction facility. That project was completed on budget in Spring 2003 at a cost of £2m.
The UK has announced it will make available around $100M (c.£60M) over the next ten years to assist Russia with the destruction of its CW stockpile.
Adam Ingram, the Armed Forces Minister, said:
"I warmly welcome this Czech contribution as a further important step in strengthening international co-operation to destroy chemical weapons. We look forward to working closely with our Czech and Russian colleagues in implementing this assistance.
"Such arrangements with other donors are already in place and we would welcome further commitments to help bring the chemical weapons destruction facility at Shchuch'ye into operation at an early date."
Notes to editors
1. The UK Government announced in 2000 that it would contribute up to £12m, phased over 3 years, for high priority chemical demilitarisation and biological non- proliferation projects in Russia.
2. Assistance with Russian chemical weapon destruction is a key element of the G8 Global Partnership against the spread of weapons and materials of mass destruction. The UK has announced that it will contribute up to US$750m over the ten years of the Global Partnership, and that up to US$100m (c.£60m) of this could be made available to assist Russia with the destruction of its chemical weapon (CW) stockpile, on top of the £12m announced in 2000.
3. The UK (which has donated £4-6m), Norway, the EU (each to the tune of some £1.5m), and the Czech Republic (£45,000) are jointly funding procurement of equipment for the electricity substation. The project, including all the funding, is being managed by MOD. The UK's principal contractor, Bechtel Ltd, will implement the project.
4. Destruction of chemical weapons stocks is a key requirement of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), not least because of the risk of proliferation.
5. Some four million CW artillery munitions (about 95% of the Russian stockpile) will be destroyed at Shchuch'ye. Russia destroyed the weapons' explosives by April 2002, as per the terms of the CWC.
6. The UK has close links with the Czech Republic in the area of defence against chemical and biological defence. The Czech Republic is keen to contribute to the destruction of Russian chemical weapons, and their funding of 2m Czech Crowns will be another valuable donation made through the UK assistance programme.
7. Several states are committed to providing support to Russia to help it meet its obligations to destroy its CW stocks, including the US, Germany, Italy, Canada, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Switzerland, and the European Union.
8. For more information, call Miguel Head in the MOD Press Office on 020 7218 7931 or visit www.mod.uk
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