More than 21,000 hectares of agricultural land have been surveyed in Ukraine, new operators have been certified and access to state standards in the field of mine action has been opened. Yuliia Svyrydenko, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of Ukraine, spoke about these results of work in the field of mine action in the first month of the year.

“In 2023, our deminers showed good results. Therefore, we have updated the Action Plan for the demining of agricultural land, increasing the areas identified for priority return to economic use. Working according to the updated plan, the State Emergency Service, the State Special Transport Service and non-governmental operators surveyed more than 21,000 hectares of land in the first month. Given that winter is a difficult period for demining, we have a good pace,” said Yuliia Svyrydenko.

In January, the largest amount of agricultural land was surveyed in Kherson region – almost 19,700 hectares. More than 1,100 hectares were surveyed in Mykolaiv region, and about 200 hectares in Kharkiv region.

According to Yuliia Svyrydenko, the number of certified mine action operators in Ukraine has increased compared to the end of last year.

“In December last year, there were 26 certified operators in Ukraine. As of now, we already have 29 operators. So, our capabilities are increasing. Today we are working to improve, digitalise and speed up the certification process. In particular, on 29 January, we opened free access to the state standard in the field of mine action. That is, operators or companies intending to work in the field of mine action will no longer have to pay money to get acquainted with the state standard,” said Yuliia Svyrydenko.