The Minister of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection spoke about the course of implementation of the AEGIS program, Vassilis Kikilias, in an interview he gave to the TV station ANT1.

As he mentioned, from AEGIS – which includes supplies to aircraft, state-of-the-art technological equipment for the prevention and response of natural disasters, fire trucks, etc. – in the months of September and October – i.e. within 60 days – projects with a total budget of 114 million euros were announced. Mr. Kikilias emphasized that these are tenders that are estimated to be successful within the next 5 months, while at the same time other tenders are proceeding.

Asked why the absorptivity of the program last July was only 1%, he explained that AEGIS is a very heavy equipment program which required, requires and will require serious planning. “He has very important and “heavy” procurement projects. Such as Canadair, such as heavy or medium helicopters and other aircraft, new fire detection technologies, cameras, drones, firefighting vehicles, etc. he said characteristically.

The minister also spoke about the upcoming bill that provides for upgrading the role of Civil Protection with a focus on prevention, so that all relevant agencies, security bodies and government agencies are coordinated by the Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection with the aim of preparedness and timely response to natural disasters, which, as he said, will unfortunately become more and more frequent due to the intensifying climate crisis experienced by the entire planet.

“Prevention is the heart of our strategy and our effort lies in reducing the effects of this crisis, both at the level of protecting human lives – which is also the primary – and at the level of protecting the property of our fellow citizens and the natural wealth of our country” noted Mr. Kikilias.