The Hague, 21 November 2003

Czech Republic Joins UK in Russian Chemical Weapons Destruction

Two States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention, the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom, announce the contribution of the Czech Republic to a project led by the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defence to assist the Russian Federation in destroying its lethal chemical weapons stocks.

The Czech Republic will provide approximately EUR 60,000 towards construction of an electricity substation that will support the chemical weapons destruction facility at Shchuchye, in the Urals, Russian Federation. Around 11.2 thousand tons of chemical weapons, or about 28% of the declared Russian stockpile, will be destroyed at Shchuchye.
Several States Parties are committed to providing support to Russia to help it meet its obligations to destroy its CW stocks, including Canada, the European Union, Germany, Finland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States.
Destruction of chemical weapons stocks is a key requirement of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), not least because of the risk of proliferation.

The Chemical Weapons Convention, banning chemical weapons, entered into force in 1997 and mandated the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to eliminate chemical weapons forever, to verify the timely destruction of all declared chemical weapons, to monitor the non-diversion of dual-use chemicals, to facilitate the mutual assistance and protection afforded to all Member States, if any Member State is threatened by or attacked with chemical weapons, as well as to promote the peaceful uses of chemistry. The OPCW now numbers 157 Member States.