Ministry of the Interior: Handover of watchtowers and two storage buildings in Rogami warehouse completed

Montenegro is contributing to increasing the safety and security of weapons and unexploded ordnance storage, and will remain committed to this topic in the coming period. UNDP.

Acting Director General for Protection and Rescue in the Ministry of the Interior Miodrag Bešović pointed out that the Rogami warehouse is a very important resource of the Ministry of the Interior.

"Material and technical means important for the protection and rescue system are stored here, but also for the Police Administration, and therefore we are approaching the maintenance of its professional functionality with special care," Besovic pointed out.

He thanked the Government of Germany and the UNDP and expressed satisfaction that this project was successfully implemented.

"Officers of the Department for Unexploded Ordnance collect about 15 tons of UXO a year, and sometimes even more, so that these and similar investments significantly increase the capacity for UXO storage with the most modern security measures," Besovic pointed out.

The First Secretary at the German Embassy, Thomas Meindl, thanked the Government of Montenegro and the UNDP for the realization of this part of the project.

"Germany continues to support the implementation of the Regional Roadmap to address the proliferation and possession of illegal small arms and light weapons," Meindl said.

The program manager at the UNDP, Gordan Ivanović, pointed out that this project, which is being implemented by the UNDP with the financial support of Germany, is further improving the security of the warehouse for small arms and light weapons in Rogami.

As he stated, the watchtower and the two storage buildings in the Rogami warehouse have been adapted in accordance with the best international practices and standards.

"The project represents a direct contribution to the security of both Montenegro and the region, because it enables significant quantities of small arms and light weapons to be adequately secured. "In cooperation with the Ministry of Interior, UNDP in Montenegro and UNDP SEESAC have been providing support to the state in strengthening and implementing the arms control policy for more than a decade," Ivanovic said.

The Ministry of the Interior notes that the Rogami warehouse renovation project is part of a regional project established in March 2019 through Germany's dedicated contribution of 5.5 million euros to the UNDP Program, which aims to contribute to a coordinated approach in implementing the Roadmap for Control. small arms and light weapons and ammunition in the Western Balkans.

"The Rogami warehouse upgrade project supports Montenegro, primarily the Ministry of Interior, in improving the security and safety of the central warehouse in line with international standards and best practice," the statement said.

According to them, the goal is to improve the security of weapons and ammunition in the warehouse by upgrading the Rogami storage site in accordance with the Strategy and Action Plan for Combating Illicit Possession, Abuse and Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons and Ammunition in Montenegro adopted in December 2019. .

"The project directly contributes to local and regional security by ensuring that significant quantities of stored weapons and ammunition for which the Ministry of the Interior is responsible are safe and recorded. As such, the project contributes to meeting the goals set by the Regional Roadmap for the Western Balkans, including reducing the risk of uncontrolled proliferation at the local and regional level, as well as the risk of uncontrolled explosions, "the Interior Ministry concluded.