KYIV. May 15 (Interfax-Ukraine) – As part of the Green Investment Scheme, Japan has transferred 348 Toyota Prius cars to the Interior Ministry of Ukraine for use by the new patrol police service in Kyiv and Odesa.
“We are now at the final stage of transferring 348 Toyota Prius cars by the Japanese government under the Green Investment Scheme to Ukraine to replace [old] UAZ and VAZ cars,” Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said during a ceremony to mark the transfer in Kyiv.
The transfer of the cars is part of the reform of the whole system of the Ukrainian Interior Ministry, he said.
“These cars are for Kyiv and Odesa patrol police services with Lviv and Kharkiv police being next,” he added.
Avakov said that he hopes to continue cooperation with Japan in the future.
The cars equipped with new customized devices will be ideal for the police patrol service, he told journalists.
“There might be a meeting with the prime minister [Arseniy Yatseniuk] by the end of the week to discuss the next program [on cooperation with Japan under the Kyoto Protocol],” Avakov said.
In the next 2-3 weeks, the Toyota Prius cars will be equipped with Rubizh license plate recognition and traffic monitoring devices, Typhoon digital video recorders and video surveillance systems. Also, the livery of the cars will be modified to feature luminous paint.
“I think this summer you will see these cars together with brand new police, so you will like it,” the interior minister resumed.
