YAKUTSK, February 20. /TASS/. An off-road expedition on two Burlak ATVs kicked off from Yakutsk on Monday. The expedition's 12 participants will travel to Yakutia's hard-to-reach and Arctic settlements.

The expedition is organized jointly with the Russian Union of Rescuers (Rossouyzspas) and the Emergency Situations Ministry. The expedition's route of more than 1,000 km long will take the team to ten settlements, and then the travelers will return to Yakutsk.

The expedition's participant, representing the Burlak ATV manufacturer, Artem Petrov, said the team would test the vehicles on different landscapes - ice, mountains, hills and valleys. The expedition will test Burlak vehicles of the cargo-passenger and the expedition modifications. The vehicles' exploitation temperature range is from minus 60 to plus 40 degrees.

Russia's well-known polar explorer and a member of the Russian Geographical Society Nikolay Nakhodnik added the expedition would test a Russian-made short-wave radio station, Erel. The project will also feature an expert of Yakutia's North-Eastern Federal University, who will sample water in the settlements. The travelers will bring food supplies to a hard-to-reach settlement, Sebyan-Kyuel.

Yakutia's first deputy leader of the regional emergency situations authority Vitaly Nemtsov told TASS the all-terrain vehicles had been upgraded to work in the Arctic and had passed tests in Yakutia. After the tests, the vehicles were granted positive recommendations, he added. "This year, we expect that two Burlak vehicles will be supplied to our Arctic fire-rescue team," he told reporters. One vehicle will be delivered in spring, and the other - in autumn.

The expedition's tasks are to find ways in order to cut delivery terms and distances for goods supplied to rural areas, compared to the presently used transportation by water. Additionally, the project will analyze options for further development of tourism in the region.