The OPCW Director-General, Ambassador Rogelio Pfirter, paid an official visit to the Russian Federation from 16 to 18 June 2008 to attend the official event marking the commencement of the new Leonidovka chemical weapons destruction facility in the Penza region.
The Director-General welcomed the commissioning of the new facility, which will allow the Russian Federation to make further progress in fulfilling its obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). He highlighted the significance of the event as evidence of the Russian Federation’s strong commitment to complete the destruction of its chemical weapons stockpiles by 2012, in accordance with the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).
On his part, Mr Victor Kholstov, Deputy-Director of the Federal Industry Agency, Head of the Russian Chemical Weapons Destruction Program, highlighted the significance of the occasion and reiterated the commitment of the Russian Federation to fulfil its obligations under the CWC in a full and timely fashion and within the deadlines set by the Convention.
In addition, General Valery Kapashin, Head of the Federal Department for Safe Storage and Disposal of Chemical Weapons, stated that all the remaining destruction facilities in Russia will be built and commissioned on time.
The chemical weapons destruction facility in Leonidovka is the fourth chemical weapons destruction facility to have begun operation under the auspices of the Russian Federation’s Federal Programme to destroy its total declared stockpile of 40,000 metric tons of chemical warfare agents, in accordance with the CWC. It will be used to destroy 6,884.794 MT of GB (sarin), GD (soman), GD viscous and VX nerve agents, which constitutes about 17.7 percent of Russia’s declared chemical weapons stockpile. The Government of Switzerland has contributed CHF 3,000,000 to the Leonidovka facility.
During the destruction process, OPCW inspectors will maintain a 24 hour presence at the facility to ensure that all chemical weapons at the site are irreversibly destroyed.
The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) implements the Chemical Weapons Convention. Under the Convention, all chemical weapons and their production capacity are to be completely eliminated within a stipulated timeframe and under international monitoring.