OREANDA-NEWS. November 29, 2007. The first of the four new UAZ special vehicles that the emergency service of OJSC Chelyabinskgorgaz (a subsidiary of the Gazeks gas holding company) received earlier in November was permanently put into service on November 28. The other vehicles will be placed at the disposal of the emergency crews in the next few days after they have been fully fitted out with special instruments and equipment required to localise and eliminate emergencies in gas pipelines. The new special vehicles are equipped with injection engines that are more powerful and economical, easier to launch at low temperatures and accordingly, more reliable in frost.

Chelyabinskgorgaz Managing Director Andrei Lekanov explained, "Emergency gas service vehicles must meet special requirements. Their technical readiness factor must always be equal to one. From Ryleeva Street where the emergency service base is located, the crew on duty must get to the most distant outskirts of the city, for example the Metallurgichesky District, within a maximum of 30-35 minutes. The earlier our specialists arrive at the scene, the sooner they will be able to localise the failure and the smaller damage will be caused to both industrial consumers and the city's households."

The most recent previous upgrade of the emergency gas service fleet of motor vehicles was two years ago. The oldest vehicle today is only about seven. Apart from the emergency crews, a new vehicle was provided for the company's specialists servicing gas control stations earlier in November. The next stage intended for a more considerable upgrade of the Chelyabinskgorgaz fleet is scheduled for 2008. This time, the city gas company intends to purchase a new mobile compressor for pressure testing of gas pipelines, an excavator, and vehicles for repair and assembly crews working in Chelyabinsk and the Sosnovsky, Kasli and Kunashak districts. The new machines are expected to cost around 7 million roubles.