The Soviet Biological Weapons Program - Deadly Cultures: Biological Weapons Since 1945 - page 140

oidosis. 41 It is unclear, however, whether this facility was part of Military
Compound 19 and, if not, how the research facility and the military com-
pound might have been connected.
Biopreparat
In 1972 the Politburo authorized the creation of the Ministry of Medico-
Biological Industry (MinMedBioProm), which became the Main Direc-
torate for Biological Preparations, also known as Biopreparat. Bio-
preparat was also the general name given to the civilian component (but
directed by the military) of the Soviet BW program after 1972. Bio-
preparat initially consisted of at least six scientific production organiza-
tions: Biomash, Biosyntez, Enzym, FarmPribor, Progress, and Vector. 42
Most of the Biopreparat personnel were initially military personnel. As
a rule, the Soviet military occupied the leadership positions. Vsevolod
Ivanovich Ogarkov was the first head of Biopreparat. In 1979 General
Yuri Tikhonovich Kalinin replaced him. 43 Following the end of the Soviet
Union, Kalinin became chairman of the newly established joint-stock
company Biopreparat, a position he held until at least the late 1990s. 44
Biopreparat, which was sometimes referred to by its postal box address
(A-1063) and sometimes referred to as Ogarkov's System, or The System,
appears to have had at least 20 main locations. US and UK intelligence
were reportedly aware of the existence of Biopreparat before Pasechnik's
defection. 45 A number of Biopreparat facilities had been flagged in previ-
ous Western intelligence estimates; however, its scale and scope were not
properly appreciated until after Pasechnik's information became avail-
able.
One of the key Biopreparat facilities was the All-Union Institute of
Highly Pure Biological Preparations, founded in Leningrad in 1974. It
eventually consisted of three sites and employed approximately 3,500
people. The institute initially focused on developing lethal and debilitat-
ing strains of tularemia, respectively. However, it eventually focused on
weaponizing Yersinia pestis. By 1987 the facility reportedly had a manu-
facturing capacity of approximately 200 kilograms per week. The dried
plague strain that was weaponized was referred to as Weapon of Special
Designation One. 46
Another Biopreparat facility, NPO “Vector,” was established in 1974 as