OSCE Secretary General visits rocket fuel disposal site in Armenia
(OSCE/Gohar Avagyan)OSCE Secretary General Marc Perrin de Brichambaut (centre) and Armenian Defence Minister Serge Sargsyan at the opening of a "melange" processing installation at Kaltakhchi, Lori province, 12 May 2006. Melange is a highly toxic missile fuel component. (OSCE/Gohar Avagyan) Photo details
YEREVAN, 12 May 2006 - OSCE Secretary General Marc Perrin de Brichambaut, who is on a two-day visit to Armenia, today applauded the imminent start of the recycling of 872 tons of mélange rocket fuel.
"The mélange project in Armenia is an outstanding example of what practical co-operation between the OSCE and a participating State can achieve and could well serve as a model throughout the OSCE region," he said during a visit to the disposal site in Kaltakhchi, a village in Armenia's northern Lori province.
"Thanks to the OSCE's support, we were able to start this initiative that will improve environmental safety and thereby the security of Armenia's population," said the Armenian Defence Minister, Serge Sargsyan.
The mélange, a highly toxic and volatile substance used as a component of rocket fuel, was left in Armenia following the disintegration of the Soviet Union. Following a request by Armenia's Defence Ministry, the OSCE Office in Yerevan initiated a project that will recycle the entire stock of the substance over the next seven months, turning it into an environmentally-friendly low-grade fertilizer. The start of the current recycling phase follows technical and environmental assessments by international and Armenian experts. The project is financed by Canada, Finland, Germany and the United States.
Prior to his visit to Kaltakhchi, the Secretary General met Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian. Among other issues, they discussed the OSCE's assistance to improve the country's electoral legislation and the establishment of an OSCE presence to implement a new programme in Syunik province, which will promote economic and environmental activities in the region. They also discussed other issues of co-operation between the OSCE and Armenia and the Organization's reform activities.
On Saturday 13 May, the Secretary General will meet Armenian President Robert Kocharian, Chairman of the National Assembly Arthur Baghdasaryan and His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians.
"The mélange project in Armenia is an outstanding example of what practical co-operation between the OSCE and a participating State can achieve and could well serve as a model throughout the OSCE region," he said during a visit to the disposal site in Kaltakhchi, a village in Armenia's northern Lori province.
"Thanks to the OSCE's support, we were able to start this initiative that will improve environmental safety and thereby the security of Armenia's population," said the Armenian Defence Minister, Serge Sargsyan.
The mélange, a highly toxic and volatile substance used as a component of rocket fuel, was left in Armenia following the disintegration of the Soviet Union. Following a request by Armenia's Defence Ministry, the OSCE Office in Yerevan initiated a project that will recycle the entire stock of the substance over the next seven months, turning it into an environmentally-friendly low-grade fertilizer. The start of the current recycling phase follows technical and environmental assessments by international and Armenian experts. The project is financed by Canada, Finland, Germany and the United States.
Prior to his visit to Kaltakhchi, the Secretary General met Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian. Among other issues, they discussed the OSCE's assistance to improve the country's electoral legislation and the establishment of an OSCE presence to implement a new programme in Syunik province, which will promote economic and environmental activities in the region. They also discussed other issues of co-operation between the OSCE and Armenia and the Organization's reform activities.
On Saturday 13 May, the Secretary General will meet Armenian President Robert Kocharian, Chairman of the National Assembly Arthur Baghdasaryan and His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians.