OSCE Mission to Georgia

Destruction of surplus stockpiles

Surplus stockpiles of munitions, in whatever condition, are not only a potentially lethal hazard, but can also become a source of materials for terrorists. In line with the OSCE participating States' commitment to combat terrorism and address environmental threats to security, the Mission is involved in several projects to recycle or destroy military stockpiles and neutralize dangerous chemicals.

At the 1999 Summit of OSCE Heads of State or Government in Istanbul, a fund was created for alleviating the consequences of the withdrawal of the Soviet bases from Georgia. The United Kingdom, Germany, The Netherlands and Turkey were the first to contribute to the fund, which was used to implement a project for the neutralization of 400 tons of melange (a highly explosive component of missile fuel) in western Georgia.

Recycling unviable munitions and neutralizing dangerous chemicals

The Mission completed stage 1 of a project for the recycling and destruction of stockpiles of ammunition and bombs on bases in Georgia in June 2003. With contributions from Finland, Germany and the UK, stage 2 of the project was finalized in June 2004.

Further improvements have been made to equipment and buildings at the Recycling and Destruction Centre. Large quantities of munitions were transported to the Centre from other bases. Several hundred tons of unstable and damaged bombs, missiles, cluster bomb packs and shells were destroyed.

In October 2003, the Mission started a project aimed at neutralizing dangerous chemicals stored on former bases in Georgia. The project will also rehabilitate polluted lands in the Akhalkalaki and Akhaltsikhe areas and render them suitable for agricultural use. The UK, Germany and Italy are funding the project.

Stage 3 is ongoing and aims to reduce the toxic waste pollution caused by the dumping of petrol, oil and lubricants, and the remains of spent munitions contaminating the land of former Soviet bases. In 2004, the Mission oversaw the neutralization of approximately 60 tons of collected dangerous and other unwanted chemicals, including the solidified remains of napalm.

Decontaminating the land has begun after the extent and the nature of contamination on designated sites were assessed and the remains of exploded ordnance and chemical debris were cleared.

Recent activities

In October 2005, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia formally signed an agreement to continue with the third stage of an OSCE project to dismantle and recycle obsolete ammunition on Georgian territory. The Mission began maintenance, fencing and other preparatory work at the dismantling base at Dedoplistskaro.

In July 2006, the Mission signed an agreement with a specialist supplier for the purchase of equipment to smelt TNT from artillery shells and bombs. Delivery and certification of the equipment by the relevant Georgian authorities is the next stage.

A subsidiary project to reprocess 3,100 airily delivered smoke chemicals is under way.