Passage: Biopreparat was established in 1973 as a "civilian" continuation of earlier Soviet biological weapons programs.  The project was reportedly initiated by academician Yuri Ovchinnikov, who convinced General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev that development of biological weapons was necessary. The research at Biopreparat constituted a violation of the terms of the Biological Weapons Convention of 1972, which outlawed biological weapons. Its existence was steadfastly denied by Soviet officials for decades.

Question: Who is reported to have initiated the project?
Yuri Ovchinnikov