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Center for Arms Control, Energy and Environmental Studies


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Draft Federal Budget of 2001 and Spending For Implementing Strategic Arms Reductions Treaties


September 8, 2000

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As it is known, the START II Treaty, concluded in 1993, and related agreements, signed in September 1997 in New York, were ratified by the State Duma in summer of 2000. However, according to the adopted law on ratification, the Treaty will not come into force until an exchange of the letters on ratification of the START II Treaty and accompanying agreements. The latter agreements have not been yet approved by the U.S. Congress. Thus, the START II Treaty has not come into force till now and consequently its implementation cannot be financed from the Federal budget in accordance with the Federal law “On the International Treaties of Russian Federation”.

Financing of implementation of treaties on reduction of strategic arms can go only within the framework of the START I Treaty.

According to the Federal law “On Budget Classification of Russian Federation”, financing of implementation of the international treaties on weapons reduction is accomplished under the Federal budget section “Arms Disposal and Liquidation, Including Implementation of International Treaties”. There are two subsections in this section of the Federal budget expenditures:

In the Federal budget project for 2001 the expenditures under the subsection “Arms disposal and liquidation within the framework of international treaties” are planned in total for 6,036.4 million Rubles (current exchange rate is 27.8 Rubles for 1 U.S. Dollar). Similar expenditures planned for 2000 consisted of 2,070 million Rubles. That is, there is almost a three-fold increase in planned spending on this particular subsection.

The bulk volume of increases is allocated to implementation of the Convention on Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction. The planned spending on subsection “Arms disposal and liquidation within the framework of international treaties” is 6,009.4 millions Rubles, and on subsection “Arms disposal and liquidation, except implementation of international treaties” - 27 millions Rubles.

Subsection “Arms disposal and liquidation within the framework of international treaties” includes four target items of expenditure:

Thus, it is planned to spend 2,919.9 millions Rubles on strategic weapons disposal within the framework of the START I Treaty implementation, nuclear warheads and nuclear military power installations disposal and liquidation, mothballing of radiation dangerous installations, that makes 48,6 % from the general expenditures of this subsection. It is a significant step forward as compared with 2000. It is necessary to note, that within the framework of a target item “Strategic Arms Disposal and Liquidation” it is supposed to spend 22,9 millions Rubles on R&D, 21 millions Rubles - directly on weapons elimination and liquidation - and 39,6 millions Rubles - on inspection activity. All these expenditures should ensure elimination of land-based and sea-based strategic missile and their delivery platforms, heavy bombers and air-based cruise missiles.

Target item on nuclear warheads elimination includes R&D spending of 78 millions Rubles and the money for both their elimination and liquidation - 2,756.4 millions Rubles.

It is necessary to pay attention on subsection “Arms disposal and liquidation, except implementation of international treaties”, which also includes a target item “Nuclear warheads and nuclear military power installations disposal and liquidation, mothballing of radiation dangerous installations”. Disposal of nuclear reactors of decommissioned multipurpose nuclear submarines (the planned volume of expenditures is 20 millions Rubles) seems should have been included within the framework of this particular item. Dozens of such submarines are waiting for their final disposal already. However the level of expenditures is not sufficient even for disposal of a single submarine. Planned expenditures include R&D money (2,5 millions Rubles) only and, curiously, spending for inspection activity (17,5 millions Rubles). One may assume, that is expedient to sharply increase this item, because decommissioned nuclear submarines with spent fuel on-board pose a potential danger not only for Russian environment, but also for the neighboring countries.


Pyotr Romashkin
Assistant to the Deputy Chair of the State Duma Defense Committee,
Contacting address: www-start@armscontrol.ru.

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