Tatarstan Minister of Forestry Nail Magdeev: “If there are no fires in Tatarstan, this does not mean that the situation is simple”

On May 13, at a briefing at Tatarstan Cabinet of Ministers, Tatarstan Minister of Forestry Nail Magdeev said that, to date, 91 wildfires have occurred in an area of 87 hectares in the Volga Federal District, adding that no fires have been registered in Tatarstan.

To the point, the briefing was dedicated to the fire season in regional forests and preventive measures taken by the Ministry.

"The situation with wildfires is complicated in Russia. As of 8 a.m. of May 13, 6658 fires have occurred in an area of 729,000 hectares," the Minister said. According to him, the number of fires has increased to more than three times. “If there are no fires in Tatarstan, this does not mean that the situation is simple,” Nail Magdeev pointed out.

As for the situation in the Volga Federal District, to date, 91 wildfires have occurred in an area of 87 hectares. Currently, fires are burning in the Republic of Bashkortostan, Nizhny Novgorod, Kirov and Ulyanovsk regions, Perm Territory.

Then, Nail Magdeyev pointed out the statistics of 2010-2013. He said that 99 fires charred 168 hectares in 2010 and there were no fires in the next three years.

A special fire safety regime was introduced from April 20 to May 15 by the resolution of Tatarstan Cabinet of Ministers. To the point, the weather is now abnormally hot in the republic. The Ministry of Forestry RT has taken all the necessary preventive measures and issued relevant legal documents in this regard.

“35 million 786 thousand roubles have been allocated from the state and regional budgets to prevent and extinguish wildfires. More than 3 million roubles have been provided to extinguish wildfires. Fortunately, this money has not been required so far,” the Minister said.

"In 2013, 75 persons were brought to administrative proceedings for violations of fire safety rules, with fines totaling to 440,000 roubles. This year, 12 people have been imposed fines in the amount of 29,000 roubles,” the Minister continued.

Nail Magdeyev said that there will be 3-4 recreation facilities in every Tatarstan region this year. By and large, 135 well-equipped facilities will be provided along federal and regional motorways.