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Updated September 2009
Chemical Overview
Since it gained independence in 1991, Kazakhstan has not engaged in chemical weapons production. However, its territory was used by the Soviet Government to pursue a chemical warfare (CW) program. During the Soviet period, Kazakhstan housed a single CW facility, which operated as a dual-purpose chemical complex in the city of Pavlodar (northern Kazakhstan). The Pavlodar plant manufactured precursor chemicals for CW agents, though it never actually produced chemical weapons, because Soviet authorities halted the CW program at Pavlodar in 1987 before the final CW production lines were complete. The Pavlodar facility, however, was designed to produce a new generation of binary nerve agents that were developed by the Soviet Union in the 1980s. A former Soviet chemist, Vil S. Mirzayanov, who worked for more than 25 years in the Soviet CW program, claimed in 1991 that 200 scientists and engineers were involved in the development of this new binary agent, which had the secret codename Novichok (newcomer). By 1987, when the plant's construction was officially halted by the Soviet government, major chemical weapons production facilities at the plant had already been constructed. The plant also acquired personnel with expertise in advanced chemical weapons production.
However, the Pavlodar plant never produced CW agents. In 1987, facilities for operations with final CW agents were destroyed and intermediate chemical weapon production lines were converted to manufacture organophosphorous products for commercial markets. After independence in 1991, Kazakhstan continued conversion of the plant to civilian production facility. On 24 June 1999, Kazakhstan ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC)[PDF]. However, Kazakhstan did not declare the Pavlodar facility in its CWC declaration.
History
Since Kazakhstan did not have an independent history of chemical weapon production, chemical weapon developments on its territory can be considered only one part of the entire history of the Soviet CW program. Kazakhstani territory housed the only known CW facility, the Pavlodar plant, which was under construction when the Soviet Union committed itself to abandon its CW program in 1987. However, some unconfirmed reports suggest that Kazakhstan also housed two other former soviet CW-related facilities: a production plant in the city of Taraz (formerly Zhambul) and storage barracks on the Ili River, though complete information on these facilities is not available.
Status
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the government of Kazakhstan committed itself to convert the Pavlodar plant to a civilian production facility. Since 1994, the facility has operated under the status of a joint-stock company. However, the plant has struggled to eliminate dual-purpose equipment at the facility and, due to economic problems, has not been successful in producing commercial chemicals. As a result of this, the facility repeatedly changed management and plant administrators eventually opted to file for bankruptcy -- a status which was granted in 2005 -- and sell the facility to pay off debts. Plant personnel have faced some uncertainty in receiving back wages and compensation, though a majority was hired by the plant's new owner. Even though the plant was subsequently sold to a new owner, it remains unclear whether it will be commercially successful in the near future.
Moreover, there is a significant mercury pollution problem at Pavlodar, which is caused by the mercury catalyst that has been used since 1975 for the production of chlorine and sodium. For the purposes of cleaning up mercury pollution, Kazakhstan received an $8.5 million loan from the French government. Using those funds, as of November 2001, a French company was supposed to conduct a feasibility study and environmental monitoring in the Pavlodar region, and a tender was supposed to be announced for a contractor to implement the work. There are persistent concerns regarding the level of contamination in lake Bylkyldak, which has reportedly accumulated 10 tons of mercury.
Key Sources:
[1] Gulbarshyn Bozheyeva, "The Pavlodar Chemical Weapons Plant in Kazakhstan: History and Legacy," The Nonproliferation Review, Volume 7, Number 2, Summer 2000; http://www.cns.miis.edu/pubs/npr/vol07/72/72bozh.pdf.
[2] Jonathan B. Tucker, "Viewpoint: Converting Former Soviet Chemical Weapons Plants," The Nonproliferation Review, Vol. 4, No. 1, Fall 2000; http://www.cns.miis.edu/pubs/npr/vol04/41/tucker41.pdf.
[3] U.S. Foreign Commercial Service Kazakhstan, "Kazakhstan: Mercury Pollution at Pavlodar Chemical Plant," 5 November 2003; BISNIS (Business Information Service for the Newly Independent States) site, http://www.bisnis.doc.gov/bisnis/isa/011105KazChem.htm.
This material is produced independently for NTI by the James Martin Center for
Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies and
does not necessarily reflect the opinions of and has not been independently
verified by NTI or its directors, officers, employees, agents. Copyright © 2010 by MIIS.
