This year, Ukraine aims to clear 35% of 470,000 hectares of agricultural land identified for priority demining. It is also planned to increase the number of pyrotechnics in the units of state institutions and to strengthen the provision of state operators with equipment. These steps will accelerate the process of demining the territory of our country, said Yuliia Svyrydenko, First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine and Minister of Economy of Ukraine on air of 1+1 TV channel.

According to the First Deputy Prime Minister, 10 demining vehicles are currently operating in the country, and our units will receive another 5 in about a month. However, this is not enough to solve the large-scale demining tasks facing the state.

"First of all, we need to improve the technical support of our pyrotechnics. To do this, we need to purchase demining vehicles, vehicles for transporting personnel and vehicles for transporting explosive devices. That's why today we have opened an account within UNITED24, which will be used for demining needs - first of all, for the purchase of demining machines," said Yuliia Svyrydenko.

In order to speed up the clearance of Ukrainian land, the units of state-owned operators need about 100 demining vehicles and more than 463 vehicles for transporting personnel and equipment, 251 vehicles for transporting explosive ordnance. According to the First Deputy Prime Minister, contacts have already been established with manufacturers in different countries. At the same time, Yuliia Svyrydenko stressed that our state is interested in foreign partners considering the possibility of localising the production of demining machines.

"It is very important for us that foreign manufacturers can quickly produce these machines and supply them to us, because time is the most important resource for us. But it is also crucial that such companies consider the opportunity we offer: localising production. Mine clearance will take some time, and it is desirable for us to have our own production to be able to quickly repair equipment and replace parts that may become unusable. Therefore, it is critical that we have a Ukrainian manufacturer or joint venture. We are also working on this in parallel with solving strategic demining tasks," said Yuliia Svyrydenko.

According to the First Deputy Prime Minister, the use of the latest technologies will also help speed up the commissioning of land. According to Yuliia Svyrydenko, not all land that is potentially contaminated is actually contaminated and needs to be demined. Surveys using drones capable of detecting explosive objects remotely will significantly speed up the commissioning of land.