MOSCOW. Nov 10 (Interfax) - Some $217 million in foreign aid has been invested in Russia's chemical weapons disposal program, said Federal Industry Agency deputy chief Viktor Kholstov.
"At the same time, the actual cost of building chemical weapons disposal facilities in Russia stands at around $3 billion. Thus, the size of the available non-repayable funds accounts for a mere 7% of what we need," Kholstov told a forum on Russia's enforcement of the Convention for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in Moscow on Wednesday.
Russia has signed 28 intergovernmental and interdepartmental agreements with foreign countries on cooperation in chemical disarmament, he said.
"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," Kholstov said.
In 2007, Russia will have to dispose of 8,000 tonnes of chemical agents as part of the second stage of its national program, he said.