KYIV, 17 June 2010 - The last shipment of a highly toxic rocket fuel component will depart from a military base in western Ukraine on 24 June, marking the conclusion of removal of the dangerous liquid from two depots as part of an OSCE - Ukraine project to safely dispose of all of Ukraine's stocks of the fuel component.

Representatives from countries that have financed the project, from the OSCE and the Ukrainian Defence Ministry will visit the site to observe the departure of the train that will transport the final shipment of the noxious substance to Russia, where it will be safely disposed of in specialized chemical facilities.

The site, located just one kilometre from the village of Tsenzhiv and a few kilometres from the regional capital of the Ivano-Frankivsk region, held 2,200 tonnes of the rocket fuel component, known as melange.

The conclusion of work at Tsenzhiv marks removal of all melange from two depots in western Ukraine as part of an OSCE project that aims to rid Ukraine of the 16,000 tonnes of melange that remained in the country following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The first stage also included removing all melange from a site near the south-western town of Kalynivka. Work on a second stage will start in coming months.

The substance can be deadly upon contact, burning the skin, eyes, mucous membranes and lungs. Leaked melange, which quickly turns into gas when it comes into contact with the air, can form a toxic cloud capable of poisoning human beings dozens of kilometres from the site of the leakage.

The project, implemented by the OSCE Secretariat, is set to become the OSCE's largest donor-financed project so far. Donors to this phase of the project include: the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Norway, Spain, Poland, the Swedish International Co-operation Agency and Ukraine.

Journalists are invited to presentations, speeches and the screening of a film about the project, to be held from 10:30 to 13:00 at Nadiya Hotel, 40, Nezalezhnosti St, Ivano-Frankivsk, and to observe demonstrations of loading and safety measures and the departure of the train from 15:00 to 17:30 at Military unit A2989 in Tsenzhiv. Advance registration is required by phone to the Defense Ministry's press service at +38 044 483 33 37 (on June 22-23 in Ukrainian and Russian only) or by email to Anton.Shevchenko@osce.org or by phone +38 050 357 3365 by the end of 22 June.