26 February 2004 13:17
UK may increase aid to Russia to destroy chemical weapons - embassy
web site
Moscow, 26 February: The UK may increase its financial assistance to Russia under programmes for the destruction of
weapons of mass destruction (WMD), a British diplomat said on Wednesday [25 February].
Britain has pledged to allocate 750m US dollars between 2002 and 2012 for WMD destruction under the Global
Partnership programme, Simon Evans, the first secretary of the British Embassy in Moscow, told Interfax-Military News
Agency.
Evans said the time in which the money will be released depends on the results of the first few projects and that the
sum could increase in a few years' time if the projects prove effective.
Britain is closely involved in the construction of a chemical weapons disposal facility in Shchuchye in Kurgan
Region. Evans said his country had built a water supply system there worth more than 3m dollars and a 14m-dollar project
to build an electricity supply system for the facility is being put into practice.
Evans said Britain is holding intensive talks with the Russian ammunition agency on a British-Canadian plan to lay a
railway to carry chemical weapons from their storage facilities to the destruction site in Shchuchye. Canada is to
allocate 30m US dollars for the purpose and Britain is to provide management for the project.
[Interfax-AVN military news agency web site] |
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