OSCE helps Georgia remove Soviet Army military artifacts

The Organization for Security and Co‑operation in Europe (OSCE) is continuing to reduce the risk of armed violence in Georgia by helping to remove abandoned ammunition left after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The OSCE said it was ready to remedy the effects of Soviet military activity in Georgia within the framework of the Ammunition Demilitarization and Community Security program.

OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Georgia to continue the project on April 30, OSCE reported.

The project was established by the OSCE in partnership with the UNDP (the UN’s global development network) in response to requests for assistance by the Georgian Government since 2007.

The project will be implemented by the state military scientific-technical centre Delta with cooperation of Ministry of Defence and OSCE, Georgia’s Defence Ministry reported.

Following the breakup of the Soviet Union, Georgia inherited substantial stockpiles of Soviet-era (including Russian Federation), conventional ammunition manufactured from 1950, the Ministry said.

Ammunition was also abandoned as the Russian Armed Forces pulled out of their military bases in Georgia.

Considerable amounts of out-dated and unstable ammunition stockpiled in inadequate storing conditions continued to pose high risks to people, the physical environment and security, the Defence Ministry said.

Zannier believed the project had already resulted in a safer environment for Georgia’s citizens and the whole region.

"It has helped eliminate the constant threat of explosions from unstable ammunition stores and from poisoning by toxic materials that leaked into the ground and the water,” he said.

"We will now be able to bring the project to the point where Georgia can carry on such activities on its own, which is one of the best examples of how governments and international co-operation can contribute to global security in the OSCE region,” he concluded.

The OSCE considered that by the time the program ended, the Georgian side should have sufficient local resources and the capacity to carry on independently demilitarization and destruction of all weapons and ammunition procured after 1991.

Following the successful disposal of disposal of nearly 1300 cluster bombs in July 2013, the next OSCE project supported by the Memorandum of Understanding envisaged the safe and environmentally acceptable disposal of 25,609 units of aircraft rockets and bombs and TNT melting form artillery shells from June 2014 to September 2015.