On the 6th of March 2014 in the framework of joint Ukraine - OSCE international project from the territory of Ukraine the last part of the liquid rocket fuel component “mélange” was deported for its further disposal outside Ukraine.
This last part of “mélange” was loaded on the 28th of February and on the 3rd of March 2014 from the places of its storage in the city of Bila Tserkva and the town of Luybashivka of the Odessa region at the presence of representatives of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, the OSCE as well as Russian contractor enterprise.
In the framework of this project, launched in 2009, about 16,000 tons of this highly dangerous toxic liquid, inherited by Ukraine from the former Soviet Union, were disposed. ”Mélange” was used as an oxidizer of the rocket fuel for intermediate-range and shorter-range missiles. Thus the acute necessity to dispose “mélange” emerged in the process of Ukraine’s fulfillment of its international commitments according to the Treaty between the USA and the USSR on the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) of 1987 (entered into forth for Ukraine in 1992).
The joint Ukraine - OSCE international project is a unique one because it has ensured the disposal of the Ukrainian “mélange” by the Russian enterprise thanks to the western sponsor’s funds and the OSCE mechanisms. It has become the biggest project regarding the donor’s financing in the history of the OSCE.
The contributions to the project were made by Denmark, Spain, Germany, Norway, Poland, the USA, Hungary, Finland, the Chech Republic and Sweden.
The whole international community took a long breath of relief as a result of disposal of this potential source of ecological catastrophe. There was left the direct threat to the lives of the inhabitants in the suburbs of 5 military bases where the “mélange” was stored, in particular: in Kalynivka of the Vinnitsa region, in Tchenzhed of the Iveno-Frankivsk region, in Radekhiv of the L’viv region, in Bila Tserkva of the Kyiv region, the Shevchenkovo of the Kharkiv region and Lyubashivka of the Odessa region.
The Ukrainian side expresses its gratitude to the donor-states and the OSCE for the assistance provided and notes the constructive cooperation between all participants of the project.
The successful transportation of the last part of the “mélange” through the territory of Ukraine has testified the ability of the new Ukrainian authorities to guarantee a safety treatment of such highly toxic materials even in so difficult internal political situation.