Russia

		$7 bln needed for next phase of Russian chemical weapons disposal

MOSCOW, November 3 (RIA Novosti) - The second phase of the federal program to decommission chemical weapons will require $7 billion, the Federal Agency for Industry said Thursday. According to Deputy Chairman of the agency Viktor Kholstov, a new version program was agreed on October 24. "The new program envisages using three facilities... in the second phase of the chemical weapons decommissioning," he said.

He said a center for chemical weapons disposal had been operating in Gorny, a town in central Russia, since 2002. Kholstov said all of the 1,143 metric tons of chemical weapons stored at the facility would be destroyed by the end of this year.

"We appreciate the considerable contribution of Britain, Canada, Italy, and Norway to chemical weapons disposal, and also the more recent contributors to the program, New Zealand, Ireland, the Czech Republic and the European Union," Kholstrov said.

He said France was also preparing an agreement to assist in the project.

Russia holds about 40,000 metric tons of chemical weapons in its storage facilities. Under the Chemical Weapons Convention, the country is to decommission all of them by 2012.

The second phase of the program foresees the decommissioning of 8,000 metric tons of chemical weapons (20% of the total) by April 29, 2007.

Russia completed the first phase of the program in April 2003 by destroying 400 metric tons of mustard gas, 1% of its total chemical weapons stockpiles.