Two new units will be based in Usinsk and Inta, Minister of Natural Resources of the Republic of Komi Roman Polshvedkin said.

“We have managed to obtain the Federal Center’s approval. We will get 370 million rubles in a lump sum to raise two divisions of the aerial forest protection service, plus another 230 million rubles  for their upkeep next year,” he said.

Currently, the region has a south-to-center forest fire protection system. The new divisions will patrol the north.

According to the Head of the Republic of Komi, Rostislav Goldstein, the new divisions are important not only for the region but also the country as a whole, because they are intended for forest protection in the Arctic zone of Russia.