The park of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Republic of Armenia has been replenished with 14 fire trucks, 3 ladders and 1 machine controller that have been provided by the Japan International Cooperation Agency and will be distributed to the firefighting and rescue units of the Shirak, Lori and Syunik Provinces.

The trucks were solemnly delivered during a ceremony held at the Ministry of Emergency Situations and attended by Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, Director of the National Security Service Artur Vanetsyan and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Armenia Jun Yamada.

“This time, the JICA is providing Armenia with $14.5 million in assistance in order to support and upgrade the regional firefighting and rescue units of the Rescue Service of the Ministry of Emergency Situations in the Syunik, Lori and Shirak Provinces,’ Nikol Pashinyan stated and expressed his gratitude to the Japanese government for the technical and financial assistance that Japan has been providing to Armenia for years.

Japan’s Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Armenia Jun Yamada said it is a great honor for him to participate in the solemn opening of the program for improvement of anti-fire equipment, the agreement on which was concluded between the Japanese and Armenian governments in 2017. The ambassador added that since natural disasters happen in Armenia frequently and hinder the development of rural settlements, Japan considers the assistance to provinces a priority.

According to Minister of Emergency Situations Felix Tsolakyan, the effectiveness of rescue efforts will increase to a rather high level through the acquisition of new equipment. “Yerevan has 26 fire trucks that the Japanese also provided to us. These new trucks are only for the provinces. In August, we will probably receive another 22 trucks that we will send to Shirak, Lori and Syunik Provinces,” the minister stated.