Russia helps fight wildfires in Greece
The Russians have landed in Greece, touting their firefighting airplanes as opposed to Canadair offerings. Russia had earlier turned down a request for equipment, but now sees a business opportunity.
Saturday, August 11, 2007
By Athens News
THE RUSSIAN amphibious aircraft Beriev Be-200 landed at Elefsina airbase on July 29 and reignited a public debate about its possible purchase by Greece.
Russia has been quick to point out the Beriev's advantages compared with the Canadair aircraft, which for two decades have spearheaded Greek firefighting efforts.
"We have come here to help our Greek colleagues deal with the hundreds of fires that are ongoing at the moment," said Russian Commander Evgeni Serik a few minutes after the Beriev landed.
"We are well aware of the distinctiveness of the morphology of Greece and we are confident that the Be-200 can operate effectively under those circumstances. Otherwise we would not be here," he said.
Two Russian Mi-8 helicopters touched down a few hours later, another part of the Russian rented aid in what has so far been a red-letter year for forest fires.
Even though there is no intergovernmental agreement between Greece and Russia regarding aid in cases of natural disasters, Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis called Russian President Vladimir Putin and asked for help.
Public Order Minister Vyron Polydoras, who hailed the Russian aid, said his original request for Beriev aircraft was turned down.
"When I first submitted a request for Be-200s, a few months ago, it was turned down by the Russian government," said Polydoras.
"I do not know the reason for the initial Russian refusal but the prime minister's phone call to President Putin changed everything," he said.
It ain't free
The Beriev was put to the test in the Pieria region in north-central Greece three days after it landed, with an interpreter relaying messages from the coordinators of the firefighting forces to the Russian crew and back.
This trumpeted Russian aid will cost Greece tens of millions of euros. According to senior fire brigade sources, the leasing of each Beriev with crew will amount to about 4 million euros, while the cost for each Mi-8 helicopter will reach an estimated 900,000 euros for the season. And the Greek government is seeking to rent one more Beriev until the end of the high-risk fire season, which officially expires on October 31.
Prior to the latest agreement between Karamanlis and Putin, several Russian aircraft were already operating in Greece. The staggering amount of fires (more than 3,000 so far this summer) forced the fire brigade to lease seven heavy Russian-built Mi-26 helicopters from Vienna-based Scorpion, which represents defence contractors.
The fee for the rental of each Mi-26 until October 31 is approximately 1,900,000 euros, bringing the total for all foreign aircraft firefighting in Greece this summer to approximately 40 million euros.
Greece planning to buy?
Public Order Minister Vyron Polydoras hails the Russian aid with Russian Commander Evgeni Serik at his side (right)
Standing on the asphalt airstrip in Elefsina, Polydoras provided the first official confirmation that Greece is interested in purchasing the Beriev. "We know the capabilities of this aircraft and we always believed it would represent a useful tool in our effort to deal with the fires. We are also looking into the possibility of buying Be-200s to replace the ageing Canadair 215," he said.
Greece has one of the largest fleets of Canadair CL-215s, but Bombardier, their Canadian manufacturer, has discontinued them in favour of the more powerful CL-415s.
The estimated cost of the Beriev is 35 million euros, while the improved CL-415, used by several European countries including Greece, could cost as much as 27 million euros.
"Greece Ready to Buy in Russia Twelve Be-200 Amphibious Planes" was the headline carried by Kommersant, Russia's online daily, on July 25.
"Greece has placed an official order for twelve Be-200 amphibious planes, including firm order for six planes and the option for the remainder," the article reads, attributing to Interfax, the semi-official state news agency.
Greece is said to be planning an international tender for more firefighting aircraft this autumn. There are essentially only two contenders: Beriev's Be-200 and Canadair/Bombardier's CL-415. If the Russian article is true, then the public tender may already have been compromised.
Both aircraft have their pros and cons. The Beriev's supporters say it can drop twice as much water on a fire as the Canadair (12 tonnes as opposed to six) and do more drops within the same time because it flies faster; it has a longer range than the Canadair and can fly 50 percent longer between refuellings (3,800km). That would be useful if a single aircraft had to fight several fires in different parts of Greece on the same day. It has a quicker turnaround time between operations and doesn't break down as often.
However, the Russian jet is larger than its turbo-prop Canadair competitor and is therefore not as nimble. That could give the CL-415 the edge when it comes to flying between the crags and inside the ravines that are so characteristic of the Greek countryside. The Beriev is also less fuel-efficient and its maintenance and spare parts are costlier. Furthermore, the support and training infrastructure for the Canadair aircraft is well-established in the Hellenic Airforce. The Beriev would have high introduction costs.
Achilleas Topas and Efthymios Tsiliopoulos are writers for Athens News, Greece.
En este otro artículo hablan de los costes, hasta ahora estaban usando los aparatos alquilando un nº de horas de vuelo determinado. Este año se les han disparado los costes por que han superado esas horas de vuelo y han alquilado un nº extra de aparatos (los Beriev):
Fire costs soar to 40 mln euros
The thousands of forest fires that broke out across Greece this summer have pushed up the cost of leasing planes and helicopters used for firefighting to 40 million euros from some 24 million euros in previous years, according to a Public Order Ministry source.
This year the government hired a fleet of 16 helicopters '' four Erickson, seven M-26 and five Camov '' for a three-month period or a total of 120 flying hours, each at a cost of 27.9 million euros.
However, due to the large number of forest fires this year, the Public Order Ministry has kept them in the air for a longer period, paying extra charges, the source said.
For every additional hour an Erickson helicopter is used, the cost is 5,000 euros, while for every extra hour, the M-26 helicopters cost 7,000 euros.
The significant increase in costs this year has come from Russian firefighting equipment sent to Greece last month to help the country in its dousing efforts.
Greece will be charged 2.8 million euros for the Beriev Be-200 plane, while the two Russian M-8 helicopters will cost 1.2 million euros.
A committee consisting of representatives from the Public Order Ministry and fire service has been set up to examine whether it would be cheaper to buy the helicopters through a leasing agreement that would allow for year-round access to the equipment. The committee is expected to present the results of its findings in about a month.
http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_politics_100006_06/08/2007_86512
Orel escribió:Hombre, yo no consideraría "situaciones puntuales" el tenerlos actuando todas las horas del día durante los 3 meses de verano en todo país mediterráneo, como hacemos con nuestros Canadair y todos nuestros países vecinos (mirad Portugal, Italia y Grecia qué problemones de incendios).
Si te fijas es raro que haya una plaga colosal en todos los paises a la vez. La idea de una compra conjunta sería para tratar esas sobrecapacidades que se dan y que obligan a enviar material de unas zonas (como los hidros Españoles) para cubrir otras. En todo caso, el "efecto telediario" que menciona Meteor es un punto muy fuerte en contra.
