ArmInfo. According to the draft state budget of Armenia in 2018, next year the structures of the Ministry for Emergency Situations of Armenia will receive 185 million AMD less than in 2017. In total, 11 billion AMD will be allocated for the support of the Emergency Ministry's systems in the future financial year.
Commenting on this fact, the Minister of Emergency Situations of Armenia David Tonoyan stressed that the reduction of appropriations is due to the process of optimization of the agency employees. In particular, expenses for the Seismic Protection Service will be reduced by 7.8% - up to 733.8 million. According to the minister, in the coming years it is planned to agree on cooperation with the World Bank and other donors for the re-equipment of seismic stations. The minister stressed that the employees, who fall under optimization, will supplement the MES points in the regions, especially in the border zone. Maintenance of MES strong points is one of the priorities of the Ministry. In the near future, 12 border villages will be added to 10 already operational points. Moreover, their equipment is carried out at the expense of the department's savings.
The Minister noted that as a result of cooperation with Russia and Japan, Armenia received several new fire fighting machines. Tonoyan stressed that 7 million AMD will be allocated to the needs of the Armenian- Russian humanitarian response center, the Russian side will allocate $ 16,000.