DUSHANBE, November 15, 2012, Asia-Plus -- The state unitary enterprise (SUE) Zarya Vostoka may again become an enterprise of the defense industry and begin to produce products for military use for member nations of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), Qayumjon Mahmoudov, director of Zarya Vostoka, told Asia-Plus in an interview.

According to him, Zarya Vostoka, which is based in the city of Taboshar in the northern Sughd province, is the only plant in Tajikistan that has been put on the CSTO list of enterprises of the defense industry.

“Zarya Vostoka jointly with Russia’s Federal Center for Dual-Use Technologies, Soyuz, which is a leading enterprise in the military and industrial complex of Russia, has recycled the beryllium-containing rocket propellants since 2010,” Mahmoudov said, noting that the utilization process is carried out under a government-to-government agreement signed between Tajikistan and Russia in 2005.

The agreement, in particular, states that the accumulation of fuel products and waste in the depositories of Zarya Vostoka occurred during the trial processing of formulations of high-energy composite solid rocket propellants containing beryllium.  Some 200 tons of such waste were stored at Zarya Vostoka during the Soviet times and in line with the decision of the two countries, they should be recycled by 2015.

We will recall that the Zarya Vostoka plant was part of the complex of enterprises forming the Soviet nuclear industry.  The plant used to manufacture raw uranium materials, propellants for rocket systems, adopted by the Strategic Missile Troops (RVSN) and other types of products for military use.  Currently, Zarya Vostoka is an enterprise manufacturing consumer goods, as well as goods for industrial engineering purposes.