10/22/97: UNITED STATES
AND BELARUS EXTEND DISMANTLEMENT TREATY DOD Special Coordinator for CTR Laura
Holgate, for the United States, and Lt Gen Mikhail Kazlow and Maj Gen Yuryy
Partnow, for Belarus, signed one-year extension
protocols for two US-Belarusian agreements implementing the 1992 Cooperative
Threat Reduction Program umbrella agreement in Minsk on 22 October 1997.
According to the Belarus Defense Ministry's National Agency on Control
and Inspection, the protocols will allow a joint project for demolition
of the "Krona" launching pads for RS-12M "Topol" (SS-25) ICBMs to proceed.
A US firm, Controlled Demolition Inc., will be the general contractor for
the demolition project. (See also the entries in the Belarus:
Launcher Dismantlement section.)
[BelapanRadio, 23 October
1997, In "Belarus Agency Says Pact With US To Allow More Disarmament,"
FBIS-SOV-97-296]{entered 7/28/98 FW}
6/6/96: SOAE: US PLEDGES ADDITIONAL $12.9 MILLION The United States pledged an additional $12.9 million for
Strategic Offensive Arms Elimination in an amendment to a 6/6/96 US-Belarusian
agreement signed by US DOD Special Coordinator for CTR Laura Holgate, and
Assistant to the Belarusian Minister of Defense Major General Yuriy Partnov.
Sources: [1] Ustina Markus, "More Nuclear Disarmament Funds Promised
For Belarus," OMRI DAILY DIGEST, 6/10/96. [2] "US Pledges An Additional $12.9 Million for Disarmament
Efforts," BELARUSIAN DAYS, Vol. 1, No. 3, 6/21/96.
7/7/95: SITE RESTORATION: CONTRACT AWARDED Arthur D. Little has been awarded a CTR funded contract to
support the environmental restoration of former ICBM sites in Belarus.
The two and a half year contract is worth $7.6 million. The company will
work with Belarusian specialists to analyze the environmental problems
and devise a restoration plan at one site, and oversee restoration at a
second site. Spilled oil fuel, spilled liquid rocket fuel, and heavy metal
contamination are among the environmental problems at the ICBM sites.
["A.D. Little Awarded Contract To Clean Up Belarus Missile
Sites," POST-SOVIET NUCLEAR AND DEFENSE MONITOR, 7/7/95, p. 11.]
6/95: SOAE: $8 MILLION AGREED TO DISMANTLE BELARUS SITES According to Belarusian officials, in June US Deputy Assistant
Secretary of Defense Gloria Duffy signed a protocol in Minsk according
to which the United States will set aside $8 million in the Nunn-Lugar
funds to dismantle launch sites in accordance with US methods.
[Yuriy Drakokhurst, "Game of Preference at a Testing
Range," BELARUSSKAYA DELOVAYA GAZETA, 8/17/95, p. 1.]
5/19/95: SOAE: US PLEDGES $6 MILLION TO DESTROY 79 KRONA
PADS First Deputy Foreign Minister Valeriy Tsepkalo announced
that the US had pledged to provide $6 million to scrap the Krona launch
pads for the SS-25s that are to be dismantled. Two of the 81 concrete launch
foundations have already been destroyed by explosive methods, which proved
excessively harmful to the environment. The other option for scrapping
the launch pads is by excavation. According to Tsepkalo, "a lot of trees
get destroyed by pieces of concrete flying in all directions" as a result
of "barbarous technology."
Sources: [1] Doug Clarke, "Belarus Receives More Money To Scrap
Missile Sites," OMRI DAILY DIGEST, No. 97, Part II, 5/19/95. [2] INTERFAX (Moscow) 5/18/95; in "U.S. To Fund Dismantling
of Missile Launch Sites," FBIS-SOV-95-097, 5/18/95.
4/14/95: SITE RESTORATION: CHEM-LAB OPENS TO CLEAN-UP An analytical chemistry lab at Ecomir was opened in Minsk
to aid in the environmental restoration of former Soviet military bases
in Belarus. Ecomir is the Belarusian agency that was designated to conduct
the actual operations of the lab. The new $25 million facility was financed
in part by CTR funds, based on a bilateral agreement was signed in 7/93.
A $3.5 million contract was granted to Environmental Chemical Corporation
in Burlingame, CA in 9/94 to adapt existing lab facilities for environmental
assessment activities and to purchase technical equipment. US funds will
also be used to train Belarusian personnel on how to assess and clean up
the environmental damage so the restored sites can be put to civilian use.
["U.S., Belarus Open Chemistry Lab For Environmental
Cleanup," POST-SOVIET NUCLEAR & DEFENSE MONITOR, 4/25/95, pp. 5-6.]
3/17/95: SOAE: MISSILE SITE DISMANTLEMENT AGREED First Deputy Foreign Minister Valeriy Tsepkala announced
at a press conference that Belarus and the US had reached an agreement
on US assistance for dismantling missile launch sites and utilization of
rocket propellant in Belarus. Tsepkala had recently headed a Belarusian
delegation to Washington during which defense conversion and other Nunn-Lugar
funded projects were discussed. According to Tsepkala Belarus also submitted
a request for a depository for storing radioactive uranium.
[Belapan (Minsk), 3/20/95; in "Deputy Foreign Minister
On Visit To US," FBIS-SOV-95-054, 3/20/95.]
1/95: CONTINUOUS COMMUNICATION LINK: AUDIT A DOD audit team examined the continuous communication link
equipment and found that all equipment was accounted for.
["Weapons of Mass Destruction," GAO REPORT TO CONGRESSIONAL
COMMITTEES, 9/95, p. 5.]
8/93: CONTINUOUS COMMUNICATION LINK: CONNECTION CONFIRMED A US-provided interim communications link between the US
and Belarusis now operational. The system will support the transfer
and receipt of START I and INF Treaty notifications until a permanent satellite
communications link between the two countries is established, as per the
agreement signed on 1/15/93, under the Nunn-Lugar umbrella agreement.
[DOD News Release, Office of the Assistant Secretary
of Defense (Public Affairs), No. 134-94, 3/15/94.]
7/22/93:SITE RESTORATION: UMBRELLA AGREEMENT SIGNED The US and Belarus signed another agreement under the Nunn-Lugar
umbrella agreement, providing Belarus with $25 million for the environmental
restoration of the damage caused at a small number of the Strategic Rocket
Forces facilities. The money will be used for materials, training, and
services that will give Belarus the necessary expertise to environmentally
restore former military sites.
[DOD News Release, Office of the Assistant Secretary
of Defense (Public Affairs), No. 134-96, 3/15/94.]
1/15/93:CONTINUOUS COMMUNICATION LINK: AGREEMENT
SIGNED The US and Belarus signed an agreement under the Nunn-Lugar
umbrella agreement, providing up to $2.3 million in equipment and services
for a continuous communications link via satellite between Belarus and
the United States. The satellite will support the transfer and receipt
of START I and INF Treaty Notifications.
[DOD News Release, Office of the Assistant Secretary
of Defense (Public Affairs), No. 134-94, 3/15/94.]
