All news

Russia, Belarus to spend over 2 bln roubles on Union State border security program

Special attention is paid to technical overhaul of border services

KALININGRAD, December 1 (Itar-Tass) —— Russia and Belarus will spend 2.8 billion roubles to implement the program of enhancing border security of the Union State [of Russia and Belarus], state secretary of the Union State Grigory Rapota told journalists on Friday after a meeting of the Union State Border Committee board.

According to Rapota, the two states have started the fifth border security program till the year 2016. “The money will go to fund the construction of border infrastructure facilities and technical overhaul of border services and troops, to introduce the latest engineering and other developments, and to train specialists,” he said.

Special attention is paid to technical overhaul of border services. “Whereas from 50 to 100 personnel were used to be involved in patrolling large border sections, now two or three persons will be enough to do the job with the use of state-of-the-art engineering tools,” he noted.

Chief of Russia’s Border Service Vladimir Pronichev stressed the importance of the use of drone aircraft in controlling the border. According to Pronichev, such aircraft are used to protect Russia’s southern borders and they have proved their efficiency.

“A joint project for the creation of drone aircraft border monitoring complexes along the outer border of the Union State will be developed within a year,” he said.

The two states are looking at organizing “joint border patrolling by Russian and Belarusian border guards,” said Alexander Boyechko, chairman of Belarus’ State Border Committee.