The Health Ministry has plans to purchase 32 new ambulances this year. The units of transport will be outfitted with all the necessary equipment that will meet the European norms in the field, IPN reports.

Deputy health minister Mihail Ciocanu said that a tender contest was announced last yearend. Sixteen companies bought the application documents, but only three submitted tenders. The average price of an ambulance is 1.6 million lei.

Under the emergency medicine norms, Moldova must have 445 ambulances. But it has only 378. A part of the ambulances are old and additional costs are incurred for maintaining them. According to the existing regulations, one ambulance should be changed once in five years as the annual wear degree is 15-20%.