KYIV. April 19 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ukrainian instructors have trained the first company of operational designation according to NATO standards as part of a pilot project that took place from January 19 until March 29, 2016.

Some 42 instructors from the National Guard of Ukraine have undergone the training and received relevant certificates, chief expert of the PATRIOT Training Center, former chief of the Joint Staff of the Georgian Armed Forces Giorgi Kalandadze said during a press conference at the press centre of the Interfax-Ukraine News Agency on Tuesday.

These instructors took part in the Ukrainian Armed Forces training as part a project for the preparation of the operational military unit, which was organized according to NATO standards and finished at the National Guard training center in the town of Zolochiv, Lviv region.

"With the help of these instructors we have already started pilot project of training of these operational companies. On March 19-29, these instructors prepared one company of operational designation. It means, that these were Ukrainian instructors who trained Ukrainians," senior supervisor on strategic planning of the operational directorate of the National Guard headquarters Merab Kikabidze said.

Another 400 instructors are planned to be trained according to NATO standards by the end of 2016.

"A plan of training 400 instructors by the end of this year is ready. It gives an opportunity to prepare a large number of soldiers within short period of time," chief expert at the Euro-Atlantic integration division of the international cooperation department of the National Guard of Ukraine, head of the international project PATRIOT Training Center Kostiantyn Parshyn said.

In his words, this will also help save state funds during the training of servicemen, as it will allow training soldiers individually without sending them to training camps.