Tuesday, September 12 2017 12:37

ArmInfo. Russia will provide Armenia $ 1 million to strengthen the capacity to combat forest fires in the country. Minister of Nature Protection of Armenia Artsvik Minasyan and UN Resident Representative in Armenia Bradley Buseto signed a memorandum on September 12 aimed at implementing the program "Mitigating the Impact of Climate Change in Armenia through Developing the Potential of Forest and Field Fire Management" financed by the Russian Federation.

As Russian Ambassador to Armenia Ivan Volynkin noted, Russia is consistently increasing its efforts to assist foreign partners in achieving sustainable development, guided by the goals, objectives and principles identified in the concept of the state policy of the Russian Federation in order to promote international development. Among the priority areas, the diplomat noted, are the CIS countries and the EEA, which traditionally have close economic, political and cultural ties with the Russian Federation. "With the financial support of Russia, various projects are being implemented in Armenia, various social groups and even whole branches of the economy are receiving the programs of assistance." There are many such projects: integrated support for rural development, and increased community stability, to which Russia allocated more than $ 5 million. , this is the development of integrated rural tourism in Armenia with a total budget of $ 3 million, "said the head of the diplomatic mission.

To implement the program on strengthening the potential for combating forest fires, launched in Armenia today, in order to mitigate the negative consequences of climate change, Russia sent the United Nations Development Program $ 1 million to the United Nations Development Fund. The project is designed for three years and will last until September 2020. The Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation and the Federal Forestry Agency of the Russian Federation will take a direct part in the implementation of this project. As part of the assistance, it is planned to revise and update the Armenian legislation in the sphere of forest management and prevention, elimination of forest fires, to put into operation an early warning system for fires and monitoring based on modern technologies. It is also planned to conduct training for firefighters and rescue services. "We expect that the current project will further strengthen the strategic partnership between Russia and Armenia and will help to minimize the number of emergencies in the country,"- said Ivan Volynkin.

According to Artsvik Minasyan, fighting forest fires in many countries is a priority. Forest fires in Armenia this summer, as Minasyan noted, had their negative impact on the country's ecosystem. At the same time, the Armenian side learned a lot of lessons, in connection with which a new model of inter-departmental cooperation was developed and close cooperation with international partners in this field was established.  Recall that in Armenia, on August 10, violent fires broke out that swept the forests of many regions of Armenia. To extinguish the fire in the state reserve "Khosrov Forest" was only a few days later and thanks to the help of Russian aviators and rainy weather. As the head of the Ministry of Nature Protection Artsvik Minasyan himself recently admitted, in 2017 the forests in Armenia burned unprecedentedly.

He noted that this year was very difficult, and efforts are being made to restore the damage caused by fire as much as possible. Meanwhile, on August 17, after a meeting of the Government, Deputy Minister of Emergency Situations of Armenia David Karapetyan acknowledged: "There is not enough equipment for fire-fighting equipment in Armenia - there is a shortage of finance." The equipment was purchased within the Ministry's capabilities. "Why do not we have an airplane to extinguish fires? a question related to finance, but it's impossible not to recognize that the Ministry for Emergencies has recorded progress in its work in recent years, "he said. At the same time, according to the deputy minister, the department tried to compensate for the technical problems that had taken place by organized work.