On January 17, Vitebsk /Diana Kurilo - BELTA/. The Vitebsk Regional Emergency Situations Department has become a participant in the international project "Creation of a joint response system for emergencies related to hazardous chemical and oil spills into the Western Dvina (Daugava) River during the winter period," as reported to BELTA correspondent by the department's press secretary Marina Fando. The project implementation is scheduled for two years and will commence in February of the current year. As a result of its execution, a regional mechanism for interaction between fire and rescue services of Belarus, Latvia, and Lithuania will be established; regional capabilities in the field of responding to chemical emergencies will be enhanced; and a mechanism for providing cross-border support to neighboring countries in case of an accident in a border area will be developed and tested. Information work with the public in partner countries will also have a positive impact on the development of a sense of security among the population living in industrial border areas. During the project implementation, a tactical special exercise will be held, with its practical phase scheduled for the first quarter of 2013. According to the project participants, the joint project activities will contribute to the ecological well-being of the region and, consequently, enhance its attractiveness for business and tourism. The European Union is allocating 979 thousand euros for the implementation of this project. The share of funding for the Vitebsk Regional Emergency Situations Department is planned at the level of 221 thousand euros. In addition, the Vitebsk Regional Emergency Situations Department, together with the Lithuanian side, has submitted an application for a grant to create a response system for extinguishing fires and other emergencies in ecosystems. The main applicant is the Fire and Rescue Department under the Ministry of the Interior of Lithuania. With the Latvian side, an application has been submitted for a grant to implement a joint project for the liquidation of accidents and other emergencies on the transport routes of adjacent states, where the main applicant will be the State Fire and Rescue Service of Latvia. -0-

BELTA