NATO Press Release
2 October 2002


A memorandum of understanding on logistic cooperation was signed by the Georgian Foreign Minister H.E Irakli Menagarishvili and NAMSO, represented by Mr Peter D. Markey, General Manager of the NATO Maintenance and Supply Agency (NAMSA). The signature took place on the occasion of the visit by H.E. Irakli Mengarishvilli to meet Lord Robertson at NATO Headquarters on 1 October 2002.

The memorandum of understanding concluded between Georgia and NAMSO opens the way for the implementation of a Partnership for Peace Trust Fund Project for the demilitarisation and disposal of missile stockpiles and the remediation of Georgian military sites.

This Partnership for Peace project is led by Luxembourg. Costs for the project are estimated to be in excess of EUR 1,250,000 .

In addition to the contribution in kind by the Georgian authorities, financial support will be provided by Luxembourg and other NATO and Partnership for Peace nations.

Under the NAMSA plan, material assistance and training will be provided to carry out the safe disposal of missile stockpiles and the remediation of a former military site close to the capital, Tbilisi. This site of 10,000 hectares will be cleared of unexploded ordnance by a group of former military engineers of the Georgian Army. The area will be handed back to the local population for agricultural use.

This is the fourth project initiated under the PfP Trust Fund initiative. NAMSA is currently overseeing PfP Trust Fund projects to ensure the destruction of surplus ordnance in Ukraine and Moldova, having earlier this year completed the destruction of 1.6 million anti-personnel landmines in Albania.

 
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