Specialists from his ministry are worried by the situation prevailing on Russian roads. "Regrettably, we expect a rise in the incidence of road accidents and their victims. The reason is the increasing numbers of powerful and speedy cars on the roads and the age of their drivers: they are often 18- to 19-year-olds," Mr. Shoigu added.
"With the current high degree of nuclear and chemical protection we do not forecast anything extraordinary here," he said.
His ministry does not forecast an increase in emergency situations from last year.
Nor will the number of accidents on oil and gas pipelines exceed the average annual figure. Simultaneously, the minister recalled that 72 percent of the pipelines have outlived their service life and are in need of replacement.
Summing up the results of 2004, Sergei Shoigu said that the number of victims of natural calamities in Russia has fallen 1.5 times and their victims four times from the year before.
Overall, this year the emergencies numbers in most entities of the federation have not exceeded the average over many years.
