MOSCOW, September 20 (Itar-Tass) —— Not a single army ammunition depot within city limits will store insecure munitions by the end of this year thanks to the Defense Ministry’s effort to withdraw and dispose of obsolete projectiles, Deputy Defense Minister Gen. Dmitry Bulgakov said on Tuesday.
“Some 230,000 out of 286,000 tonnes of ammunition, which is due to be removed from depots in large cities, have been taken away. The goal is met at 87%,” he said.
“There will be no insecure munitions left at depots in cities by the end of this year. The depots will store nothing but armaments and military hardware, which will be removed next year,” Bulgakov said.
Some 1.3 million out of 1.68 million tonnes of munitions planned for the disposal in 2011 have been disposed of, together with 50,000 out of 85,000 tonnes of gunpowder. “We will complete the construction of 145 modern ammunition storages this year. The storages will meet modern standards and have automatic fire extinguishing systems,” the general said.
Some 15,000 containers for storing ammunition will be supplied this year, he said.
The 99th depot in Bashkortostan was disbanded on September 1 by the order of the Russian General Staff, and the 102nd depot in Udmurtia would be disbanded by December 1, as both “failed to comply with the reformed Armed Forces,” he said.
Bulgakov said earlier that ten ammunition depots and bases would be withdrawn from the city limits this year. “The work is done for seven, and the remaining three will be removed by the yearend,” he said.