New Specialised Equipment Handed Over to Police Corps and Firefighters

Orechova Poton, 8 June (TASR) - Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok (Voice-SD), along with Police Corps President Jana Maskarova and head of the Fire and Rescue Corps (HaZZ) Adrian Mifkovic, have handed over new specialised equipment to police and HaZZ personnel to be used to carry out demanding tasks in the field, during emergencies, and for protecting state borders. The ceremonial handover took place at the Slovakia Ring compound in the municipality of Orechova Poton (Trnava region) on Monday afternoon. The new equipment includes 20 new off-road vehicles for the border police to protect the border with Ukraine. "The price of each vehicle is €78,720, including VAT; the standard list price is 22 percent higher," said the minister. The first stage of delivering 15 off-road vehicles for the Fire and Rescue Corps has been completed. A total of 50 of these vehicles are to be handed over by the end of June. Firefighters will also have 20 new rescue boats at their disposal. Sutaj Estok reported that the last three Scania 4x4 fire engines have also been delivered. "To date, a total of 80 Scania 4x4 vehicles have been handed over to the Fire and Rescue service," he stated, also announcing plans to continue modernising the fleet. "We need to complete the renewal [of equipment] at all stations," added Mifkovic. According to him, another 70 pick-ups and at least 40 vehicles will be needed. "That's a task for the coming period," he said. Maskarova noted that 20 new off-road vehicles will serve the border and immigration police in the town of Sobrance (Kosice region) and the mobile response unit. "Seventeen vehicles have been marked 'police'; these will be used primarily for border surveillance. Three vehicles are green and will be assigned to the mobile response unit," she added, stressing that this represents a significant renewal and modernisation of police equipment. am/df