Translated material
Monopoly revenue
The Ministry of Emergency Situations banned the private rescue service in Yekaterinburg
Yekaterinburg lost its own rescue service. The Sverdlovsk Regional Department of the Ministry of Emergency Situations prohibited employees of the SOVA company from engaging in life saving activities. For a city with a population of one million, what happened is a real sensation, because this particular service was perceived by the majority of Yekaterinburg residents as a direct analogue of the American “911”. Even her phone number was like that. Over ten years, "Owl" saved more than seven thousand people. The recognition of the townspeople also contributed to official recognition - recently the commercial structure received its own line in the budget of Yekaterinburg. But now service dispatchers will be forced to refuse all requests for help and refer those who apply to government agencies.Certification of rescue services is carried out every three years. For Sova, the time to take the exam came in August 2006. Deputy Head of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia for the Sverdlovsk Region Sergei Kucherov explains that certification should ensure the safety of victims and avoid cases of harm during rescue. The procedure consists of two parts: checking the level of personnel training and technical equipment. “Sova” was unable to pass the exam because previously identified violations were not eliminated.
The Ministry of Emergency Situations does not hide the fact that they have been dissatisfied with the activities of “Sova” for a long time: in the spring, when a house collapsed in Kollektivny Lane, civil service employees were surprised to discover that “Sova” was also working on the ruins. This was a direct violation of the terms of the license - a private structure is prohibited from carrying out such work. Its powers are limited to responding to road accidents, evacuating victims and providing first aid. At the same time, the Ministry of Emergency Situations employees are not at all embarrassed by the fact that “Sova” was at the site of the house collapse earlier than government services. Here we are convinced that at that moment the risk was unjustified, since there was a threat to the lives of the Sova employees themselves.
In “Sova” itself, the statement from the leadership of the regional administration was heard with surprise. Sova deputy director Oleg Pechersky says the law allows the service to operate if more than half of its employees have been certified. In the case of “Owl”, the required proportion was met, but for some unknown reason, the Ministry of Emergency Situations decided to conduct a general certification of the detachment, as a result of which the service employees turned out to be unsuitable for professional work. “Sova” was also surprised by the timing of the inspection - they are just preparing documents for certification. “We sent a letter to the Ministry of Emergency Situations, but have not yet received a response, so we cannot say that our license was taken away,” the service’s press secretary, Evgeny Ilyubaev, comments on the situation.
He claims that Sova continues to operate as before. The Ministry of Emergency Situations warns: if violations are registered, the company’s management will have to answer for this in court. At the same time, state rescuers claim that they are ready to work together and, as soon as the private company eliminates all violations, no one will stop it from applying for a new certificate. It is difficult to say whether it will be issued: there is too much unofficial information about the difficult relationship between the Ministry of Emergency Situations and Sova. It is known that although representatives of the ministry pay tribute to the efficiency of their colleagues from a private company, they are dissatisfied with the way Sova treats the qualifications of employees. At a meeting of the relevant committee of the City Duma, deputies were informed that often “Sova” not only saved, but also promoted its main product - radio security systems. Parliamentarians immediately demanded to check how money from the budget was spent. However, the city administration itself hopes for a speedy end to the conflict.