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Inadequate Funding Threatens Russian CW Destruction, Foreign Aid A Russian lawmaker cautioned today that inadequate domestic funding for destroying Russian chemical weapons would not only slow the program but would jeopardize the contributions of other nations. “The draft budget for 2004 allocates 5.36 billion rubles [$176 million] for implementing the presidential program of chemical weapons destruction in the Russian Federation, which is equal to this year’s allocations,” said Nikolai Bezborodov, deputy chairman of the Duma Defense Committee and a member of the state commission for chemical weapons destruction (see GSN, June 10). “This amounts to 46 percent of the 11.58 billion rubles [$381 million] supposed to be allocated for this sector under the program in 2004,” he added. “As a result, the U.S. will not resume the provision of $200 million for the construction of the chemical weapons destruction facility in the town of Shchuchye in Kurgan region. The U.S. is ready to resume the funding if Russia and donor countries allocate at least $50 million for Shchuchye,” Bezborodov said (see GSN, June 9; Interfax/BBC Monitoring, Sept. 19).
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