RUSSIA TO DOUBLE FUNDING
FOR CHEM WEAPONS DISPOSAL Officials Say Move in Response
to Lack of International Support
Russia is boosting spending in 2005 for chemical weapons destruction to $389
million, more than double the 2004 level, with officials complaining when
reporting the increased commitment that it comes partially in response to
Western nations' contributions being insufficient to support the effort.
"The federal budget will allocate for the implementation of this program
11
billion 160 million rubles (USD 389.1 million) in 2005, which is two times
more than in the last year," Viktor Kholstov, deputy chief of the Federal
Industry Agency, reported at the 6th annual forum on Russia's chemical
weapon destruction efforts in Moscow Nov. 10. Kholstov in making the
announcement emphasized that only $217 million in foreign aid had been
donated to the effort since 1992. He pointed out that the "actual cost" of
the effort "stands at around $3 billion," meaning that "the size of the
available non-repayable funds accounts for a mere 7 percent of what we
need."
Alexander Kharichev, secretary of Russia's chemical weapons
disarmament commission stressed at the same conference that Russia views
chemical disarmament as "an international problem" that must be resolved
"with the international community on an equal basis." Kharichev also
bemoaned the bureaucratic obstacles to actually obtaining pledged funds,
pointing out that "Russia only gets 30 percent of the sums announced by the
Americans in their aid programs," with the rest going to "organizational
costs" of the U.S. institutions that participate in the program.
Possible Impact on Future Donations
Kholstov did add, however, that Russia has signed 28 intergovernmental and
interdepartmental agreements with foreign countries on chemical disarmament
cooperation, and "fifteen agreements and other documents that allow us to
hope for more than $1 billion in extra funds over the next five years have
been
signed in the past two years alone." The G-8 named chemical weapons
disposal one of the priorities of the Global Partnership effort started at
its 2002
summit, with members promising to donate a total of $20 billion by 2012 to
that effort and others. Notably, though, Western officials, particularly
the
United States, have been critical in the past of the lack of Russian financial
commitment to chemical weapons destruction. The new Russian commitment
may prompt the next U.S. Congress to think seriously about decreasing even
further the current level of U.S. funding for the program, with legislators
reasoning that less money would prompt the Russians to continue
contributing more to the effort.
Kambarka Plant Completion in 2005
In 2004, Russia spent roughly $186 million on chemical disarmament.
According to Khoistov, Russia plans to complete construction of a plant in
Kambarka and of the first phase of a plant in the Kirov region in 2005, "which
will allow implementing the second stage of the program and destroying 20
percent of war gases" in 2007. Russia still has seven chemical weapons
arsenals, which store roughly 40,000 metric tons of chemical weapons,
Khoistov said. Russia must destroy the material before 2012 under the
Chemical Weapons Convention.