KURGAN (Siberia), May 29 (RIA Novosti) - Russia opened on Friday the first unit of a chemical weapons destruction facility in Siberia's Kurgan Region, and pledged to destroy 45% of existing stockpiles by the end of 2009.
The facility is to destroy 5,500 tons of chemical agents, including VX and sarin, stored in the village of Planovy in the Shchuchye district, about 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) east of Moscow, by the end of 2012.
"Today, a fantastic team of experts from different countries is gathered at this site. This is very logical, because chemical disarmament is an issue of the utmost global importance and the facility being launched is truly unique," Russian Industry Minister Viktor Khristenko said at the opening ceremony.
U.S. Senator Dick Lugar, also at the ceremony, said: "Today we must ensure that the [chemical] weapons are never used, and never fall into the hands of those who would do harm to us or others."
Khristenko said Russia is currently on schedule in the destruction of chemical weapons stockpiles.
"In 2003, we started the destruction of 1% of chemical weapons stockpiles. By 2007 we destroyed 20%, and to date we have destroyed 36.6%," he said.
"By the end of 2009, we must destroy 45% of the stockpiles, or 18,000 metric tons of chemical agents in Russia. Despite any doubts or difficulties that may arise, we will fulfill our obligations on the destruction of chemical weapons arsenals," the minister added.
Russia signed the Chemical Weapons Convention, banning the development, production, stockpiling, transfer, and use of chemical arms in 1993, and ratified it in 1997. The country is to destroy its entire declared arsenal of 40,000 metric tons of chemical weapons by 2012.
Russia has allocated $7.18 billion from the federal budget for the implementation of the program and has built so far four chemical weapons destruction plants - in Gorny in the Saratov Region, Kambarka in the Republic of Udmurtia, in Nizhny Novgorod, and at the Maradykovsky complex in the Kirov Region.
Western nations pledged at the 2002 Kananaskis G8 summit to help Russia financially and technologically to destroy or convert its chemical weapons and production facilities as part of the Global Partnership against the Proliferation of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction.
The United States has contributed over $1 billion for the construction of the facility at Shchuchye.
