Government will compensate 100% of the cost of demining to farmers who demine agricultural land

The Cabinet of Ministers has increased the amount of compensation for agricultural producers who plan to demine agricultural land from 80% to 100%. The programme will also now be open to those farmers who have a tax debt for land or a single tax debt if they are group IV single tax payers. And bidding for the procurement of agricultural land demining services should take place exclusively at auctions in the Prozorro system with the participation of at least two bidders. The relevant amendments to Resolution No. 284, developed by the Ministry of Economy, were approved at a Government meeting on 23 August.

“We are fully covering the cost of humanitarian demining of agricultural land for those agricultural producers who are only planning to clear their land. I understand that working under shelling and complicated logistics, it is difficult to find additional funds to bring back into use several hundred hectares of land that is currently lying idle and mined. That is why the state will pay for such services so that farmers who participate in the programme can sow and harvest crops on the cleared areas next season,” said Yuliia Svyrydenko, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy.

The relevant resolution comes into force from the date of its publication. This will allow the Humanitarian Demining Centre to announce the first tenders for humanitarian demining services in the Prozorro system in the near future for those farmers who have applied and meet the programme’s requirements. As of now, farmers have submitted a total of 135 applications for demining 3,897 plots with a total area of over 17,252 hectares.

“By adopting a resolution to increase the cost of compensation to 100%, we have created all the conditions for farmers to start demining those areas that are not currently being cultivated because they may contain mines or other explosive devices. The budget allocates UAH 3 billion for the compensation programme, and we have already registered 51 mine action operators. This means that we have people to work with and funds to pay for their work. Moreover, by amending Resolution 76, we have enabled international operators to reserve teams that work in the fields directly on demining. We are doing everything to ensure that our capacity and effectiveness in mine action is growing,” said Deputy Minister of Economy Ihor Bezkaravainyi.

The compensation programme is open to farmers whose land is located in the de-occupied territories, where contamination or possible contamination with explosive ordnance has been confirmed after a non-technical survey. The designated areas must be located outside the 20-kilometre zone from the line of contact or the state border.

Verification of applications submitted by farmers through the State Agrarian Register is carried out by the Humanitarian Demining Centre. The Centre also announces auctions for demining services in the Prozorro system, and after determining the winning operator and the final cost of demining, transfers 100% of the amount to a special account opened by the farmer in one of the state-owned banks participating in the programme.

The mine action operator will receive the entire reserved amount upon completion of demining and confirmation of the work performed by the Centre.

As a reminder, humanitarian demining is coordinated by Yuliia Svyrydenko, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of Ukraine. The Ministry of Economy ensures the interaction of central executive authorities on mine action in terms of humanitarian demining.