Press Releases 2007
U.S. and Montenegro Conclude Technical Agreement on Small Weapons Destruction Program
U.S. Ambassador to Montenegro, Roderick W. Moore, and Montenegro's Minister of Defense, Boro Vucinic, signed a technical agreement for the destruction of small arms and light weapons in Podgorica on December 3. The US Government will invest $ 2 million to assist Montenegro's Defense Ministry which needs to destroy 1500 SAM-7 Strela 9M32M man portable air defense systems, more than two thousand obsolete sea mines, 175 BL 755 cluster bombs, 90 obsolete torpedoes and numerous other light weapons. The destruction program, set to begin in early December 2007, will last approximately 16 months. It will use Montenegrin factories, specifically Poliex and Fourth November, to carry out the destruction. This program is an important step in the Government of Montenegro's demilitarization efforts to reduce more than 9,000 tons of obsolete and potentially dangerous weapons and munitions here. The Dutch Government, through UNDP, recently donated 1.3 million dollars for a similar program here.