National Army Destroys Obsolete Ammunition

CHISINAU, May 15 2012 — The program on explosion risk mitigation at the National Army ammunition depots carried out along with “Norwegian People’s Aid” (NPA) non-governmental organization shows the commitment of the military institution to raising the level of security in ammunition depots and ensuring the safety surrounding communities, Deputy Chief of Main Staff for Resource Management, Col. Andrei Sarban, stated Tuesday, May 15, during a documentation visit of journalists at Bulboaca Military Training Site, where a pilot project on palletizing and categorizing obsolete ammunition is implemented.

At the end of the project which is part of the Memorandum of Understanding concluded with “Norwegian people’s Aid” surplus conventional ammunition will be destroyed at Bulboaca ground. Funded by Norwegian Ministry Foreign Affairs the 30-thousand USD expenses for the purchase of pallets, materials for fixing, as well as the necessary amount of fuel and international technical advice.

Col. Sarban specified the pilot project would serve as a background for a survey on insuring and maintaining adequate international ammunition storage conditions and norms in all the National Army depots. Storing ammunition in pallets and meeting all OSCE, NATO, UN and other international requirements.

On May 4, 2012, the Ministry of Defense signed a memorandum with NPA on the implementation of a program on explosion risk mitigation at the National Army ammunition depots, as well as the development of cooperation in maintaining and raising the level of security in ammunition warehouses, and lowering the risk to the surrounding community.

The memorandum also highlights the cooperation of the Norwegian organization with the military institution in term of the modification of current guidelines and norms regulating the mine and weapons management in the National Army in order to meet international standards.