The Director-General of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, Ahmet Uzumcu, announced Friday that the OPCW has awarded contracts to two companies, Ekokem of Finland and Veolia of the US, with respect to the call for proposals for transport, treatment and disposal of hazardous and non-hazardous chemicals in Syria. In response to the call for proposals, 14 bids were received, said the OPCW in a statement at the Hague. The conclusion of this process represents an important step towards the full destruction of Syrian chemical weapons within the agreed timelines, it added.