Ministry of Emergency Situations (Russia)

Ministry for Civil Defence, Emergencies and Elimination of Consequences of Natural Disasters
Министерство по делам гражданской обороны, чрезвычайным ситуациям и ликвидации последствий стихийных бедствий
Ministerstvo po delam grazhdanskoy oborony, chrezvychainym situatsiyam i likvidatsii posledstviy stihiynyh bedstviy

Ministry Emblem

Ministry Flag
Agency overview
Formed December 27, 1990 (1990-12-27)
Preceding agency
  • Russian Rescue Corps
Jurisdiction President of Russia
Headquarters Teatralny proyezd 3, Moscow
55°45′34.88″N 37°37′22.00″E / 55.7596889°N 37.6227778°E / 55.7596889; 37.6227778Coordinates: 55°45′34.88″N 37°37′22.00″E / 55.7596889°N 37.6227778°E / 55.7596889; 37.6227778
Minister responsible
  • Vladimir Puchkov, Minister for the Affairs of Civil Defence, Emergency Situations and Disaster Relief
Parent agency Government of Russia
Child agencies
Website en.mchs.ru

The Ministry of the Russian Federation for Affairs for Civil Defence, Emergencies and Elimination of Consequences of Natural Disasters (Russian: Министерство России по делам гражданской обороны, чрезвычайным ситуациям и ликвидации последствий стихийных бедствий), also known as The Ministry of Emergency Situations (Russian: Министерство по чрезвычайным ситуациям – МЧС России), or internationally as EMERCOM (derived from "Emergency Control Ministry"), was established on January 10, 1994 by President Boris Yeltsin. There is a consideration that the real date of birth of the agency was on December 27, 1990, when the Russian Rescue Corps was established and assigned the mission of rapid response in the case of emergencies.[1]

Current Head of Ministry is Vladimir Puchkov, who was appointed in May 17, 2012, replacing Sergey Shoygu, who was the first Emergencies Minister and has served as a minister for sixteen years.

History

The history of civil defence services in Russia traces to the years of Muscovy rule and the 1649 "Direction on Municipal rescue" decree of Tsar Alexis of Russia which officially raised the Moscow Municipal Fire Service, the first active fire department in Russia. When Peter the Great was Tsar, Saint Petersburg was given its own fire department modeled on Western practices of the time. By 1863 it was transformed, by orders of Tsar Alexander II of Russia, as the first ever professional fire service in Russia and Eastern Europe.

Starting in 1932 civil defense matters were performed by the Local Air Defense Units (Местная противовоздушная оборона PBO-C, Mestnaya protivovozdushnaya oborona PVO-S) under the nascent Soviet Air Defense Forces, which were transferred to the NKVD in 1940 (and served with distinction, together with the NKVD Fire Services Command founded in 1918, in the Great Patriotic War). In 1960 it was returned to the Ministry of Defense as a service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces (the Civil Defence Forces of the Ministry of Defense) and a directly reporting agency, while the MVD retained the firefighting service.

In the aftermath of the events of the 1988 Armenian earthquake and the Chernobyl disaster, on July 17, 1990 a directive decision of the Presidium of The Superme Council of Russian Socialist Soviet Republic led to the formation of the Russian Rescue Corps (Российский корпус спасателей), which eventually was formed by the Soviet Government on December 27, 1990.

On April 17, 1991 the Presidium of The Supreme Council of Russia appointed Sergei Shoigu as Chairman of the State Committee for Extraordinary Situations (Государственный Комитет по чрезвычайным ситуациям, ГКЧС), which succeeded the RRC.

On November 19, 1991 The State committee was merged with the Headquarters for Civil Defense of the USSR (under the Ministry of Defense) to create the State Committee of the Russian Federation for Civil Defence Matters, Extraordinary Situations and the Liquidation of Natural Disasters (Государственный комитет по делам гражданской обороны, чрезвычайным ситуациям и ликвидации последствий стихийных бедствий при Президенте РСФСР) and was subordinated to the President of Russia.

On January 10, 1994 The State committee became part of the Government of Russia and become a Federal minisry named The Ministry for the Affairs of Civil Defence, Emergency Situations and Disaster Relief, with Sergei Shoigu as a minister.

On January 1, 2002, The Russian State Fire Service, the National Fire service, became part of the ministry with 278,000 firefighters, removed from the Ministry of Internal Affairs control after 84 years.

On May 12, 2012, Vladimir Puchkov was appointed as the new minister, replacing Shoigu who was later appointed as Defense Minister after a brief stint as Governor of Moscow Oblast.

Duties

According to an EMERCOM publication, the Ministry is an agency of Federal Executive Power with the following tasks:

Ministers

Sergey Shoigu

Sergey Shoygu, was Minister from 1991 to 2012

The First Minister in charge of EMERCOM was Sergei Shoigu. He was appointed by President Yeltsin in November 1991 as Chairman of the State Committee of the Russian Federation for Civil Defence Matters, Extraordinary Situations and the Liquidation of Natural Disasters. Shoigu was given the rank of Major General in October 1994, and his committee became a ministry in January 1994. President Yeltsin showed his faith in the importance of EMERCOM by designating Minister Shoigu a member of the Russian Security Council by Presidential Decree on February 1, 1994. In May 2012 he was appointed as Governor of Moscow Oblast and he resigned from his office.

Vladimir Puchkov

Vladimir Puchkov, the Minister since May 2012

Vladimir Puchkov was the Deputy Minister of Emergencies. In May 2012 he was appointed as Minister.

Departments

Commissions and Boards

Ministerial emblem

Working through the office of the Prime Minister, the Ministry can ask for private, Ministry of Defence or National Guard of Russia assistance. That is, the Ministry has international coordination power and the ability to tap local resources if required.

The Department of International Cooperation, to present an example of the activities of one of these departments and commissions, has already signed agreements on cooperation during disaster response and prevention with Germany, Italy, France, Switzerland, Poland, Belarus, Georgia, and Kazakhstan. Mutual assistance pacts are ready for signing with Mongolia, Latvia, Finland, Armenia, Moldova, Serbia and Estonia. An agreement also exists with the U.N. High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), and agreements are sought with the OSCE and NATO.

Internal organizations

Beriev Be-200 of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations
Kamov Ka-226 of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations

To perform rapid response operations the following forces and equipment are available:

Equipment

Aviation

Name Type Origin Photo
Ka-226 Light utility helicopter  Russia
Ka-32A Transport helicopter  Russia
Mi-26 Heavy lift cargo helicopter  Soviet Union
Mi-8 Transport helicopter  Soviet Union
Il-76TD Transport airplane  Soviet Union
An-3 Multipurpose aircraft  Russia
An-74P Transport airplane  Soviet Union
Be-200 Multirole amphibian  Russia
An-148 Passenger aircraft  Ukraine
Il-62 Passenger aircraft  Soviet Union
Yak-42D Passenger aircraft  Soviet Union

Cars

Name Type Origin Photo
GAZelle GAZ-2705  Russia
PPU48-03 (Kamaz-43118 chassis) Mobile control point  Russia
ASM-41-022 (base UAZ-3909) Rescue of general purpose  Russia
ASM-48-031 (Kamaz-43118 chassis) Rescue vehicle  Russia
Car for transportation department paramilitary mountain rescue units (Kamaz-4308 based)  Russia
Petrovich-204-60 All-terrain vehicle  Russia
ZiL-49061 Amphibious vehicle  Soviet Union

Boats

Name Type Origin Photo
Mars-700 Hovercraft  Russia
Mars-2000 Hovercraft  Russia
Khivus-6 Hovercraft  Russia
Mongoose (project 12150M) Airboat  Russia

Gallery

See also

References

  1. "Russian Rescue Corps". Presidential Library. Presidential Library. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
  2. "bmpd". livejournal.com. Retrieved March 10, 2015.

External links

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