Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan visited the Ministry of Emergency Situations (MES) to participate in the discussion of the performance report 2022 of the ministry.

Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan, Chief of Staff of the Prime Minister Arayik Harutyunyan, Minister of Finance Tigran Khachatryan, Minister of Emergency Situations Armen Pambukhchyan, Head of the State Supervision Service Romanos Petrosyan, officials of the Prime Minister's staff, the leadership of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and other officials participated in the consultation.

Minister of Emergency Situations Armen Pambukhchyan and deputy ministers presented the works done according to sectors.

Before the consultation, the Prime Minister got acquainted with the technical means of the MES Rescue Service and their capabilities.

During the discussion, it was reported that during the reporting period, training of management staff and specialists, fire rescuers was carried out at the Academy of Emergency Management. During the current year, 454 students were admitted to the academy instead of 252 last year. An IT laboratory was formed in the academy.

It was noted that the goal of the academy is to create a culture of safety among the population, exchange programs and experience with leading educational institutions abroad.

Next, the ongoing works in the direction of seismic risk assessment and risk reduction were presented, within the scope of which maps were digitized, seismic risk assessment was carried out, and the GPS stations operating in Karbi and Aruch were modernized. About 50,000 people participated in the evacuation exercises during the reporting period.

Referring to the activities of the National Center for Technical Safety, the officials in charge referred to the examinations carried out in the field of technical and fire safety. It was also noted that examination of of operation of more than 400 elevators were carried out in the current year.

It was reported that the legislative draft on the technical rules for the operation of warehouses of explosive products was developed, the purpose of which is to regulate the field of explosive materials, to bring hazardous production facilities into compliance with safety requirements.

Within the scope of activities of the Russian-Armenian humanitarian response center, the works were aimed at preventing emergency situations and providing rapid assistance to the population. 226 rescuers were trained at the center this year. Another 200 rescuers will be trained soon.

A single call center has been created for the Emergency Assistance 103, Police 102, and MES 911 services, which allows the above services to transfer the necessary information to their colleagues at the touch of a button. A single phone number will be introduced in the near future.

Then the National Strategy for Disaster Risk Management and the action plan for its implementation were presented. It was noted that the goals of the strategy are: prevention of emergency situations, disaster risk reduction and management, attraction of investments in the field of disaster risk reduction, capacity building in the areas of effective response and post-disaster recovery.

The strategy defines 21 goals and 35 measures, the funding sources and predicted amounts of which are specified.

The strategy provides for implementation of population protection planning, introduction of a centralized population early warning system, monitoring system, preparation and training of specialists based on international experience.

The strategy is expected to be adopted during the first quarter of next year.

It was also reported that 1053 warning horns were reactivated and installed in the republic during the current year.

Reference was also made to the main priorities outlined in the direction of international cooperation. It was reported that 13 international programs were implemented in 2022. The works were also aimed at the construction and furnishing of shelters.

Summarizing the meeting, the Prime Minister referred to the preservation of shelters' compliance with international standards, the increase in the quality of the activities of the Rescue Service. "Our task should be changing the standard of the Rescue Service, the voluntary certification system should also be intoduced to this structure. We must set a goal of having a Rescue Service of the highest modern standards, supported by salary levels and social guarantees. Here we should be guided by the best modern standards and focus on that logic in the near future," said Nikol Pashinyan.

The Prime Minister inquired about the technical needs of the Rescue Service, the adequacy of the infrastructure and emphasized the need to have a strategy and road map of the development of the aforementioned service.