BRUSSELS – The first batch of melange, highly toxic liquid rocket fuel component, which was stored at a military base in eastern Ukraine, has been shipped to Russia for disposal, Interfax-Ukraine learned at the press service of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
According to the report, 770 tons of melange stored at the military base not far from the village of Shevchenkove, Kharkiv region, were loaded into 14 railway tanker cars and sent to Russia for further safe disposal at a specialized chemical plant.
A total of 2,000 tons of melange are being kept in deteriorating containers in Eastern and Southern Ukraine. They are to be removed from Ukraine by the time of the Euro 2012 European Football Championship. The remaining stocks of the rocket components will be removed by the end of this year.
Under a memorandum of understanding between the Ukrainian government and the OSCE ratified in 2009, regarding liquid rocket fuel disposal, the OSCE has assumed an obligation to provide financial aid to Ukraine in addressing this problem.
Before the project started, Ukraine had 16,000 tons of mélange. To date, 6,922 tons of mélange have been removed from the military storages near Kalynivka, Vinnytsya region, Tsenzhiv, Ivano-Frankivsk region, Radekhiv, Lviv region and Bila Tserkva, Kyiv region.
The project, implemented by the OSCE Secretariat, is set to become the OSCE’s largest donor-financed project so far. Financial support for the melange disposal project was provided by the following OSCE participating States: the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden (Swedish International Development and Co-operation Agency) and the United States of America.
