More than 150 heavy demining machines, 69 mine action operators and over 4,000 sappers are busy clearing Ukrainian land of mines and explosive devices. This was announced by Yuliia Svyrydenko, First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine and Minister of Economy of Ukraine, delivering a speech at the Demine Ukraine 2.0 Forum.

"As of 2022, 174,000 square kilometres of territory were potentially contaminated with mines and other explosive devices. This is, for example, exceeding 8.5 times the area of Slovenia. Together with our partners, donors and experts, we have made a huge step forward - more than 35,000 square kilometres have been surveyed and returned to productive use. Today, we have more than 150 heavy demining vehicles, more than 4,000 deminers and 69 mine action operators, while 60 operators are still undergoing certification process," said Yuliia Svyrydenko.

She noted that the Government's goal was to return 80% of potentially contaminated areas to productive use over the next ten years.

In 2024, the Government managed to open the market for humanitarian demining services. To help farmers, the Government launched a compensation mechanism for demining services. The state covers 100% of the cost of such services to farmers. Its principle is that the land plot is put up for auction in a transparent manner, operators compete to provide services, and the state covers the cost of demining.

"Following 31 auctions, we have already signed agreements and managed to reduce the initial price by more than 17%. The savings amounted to more than UAH 90 million. At the same time, we saw a significant demand for these services from farmers - more than 190 applications," said Yuliia Svyrydenko.

She said that for 2025, UAH 1 billion is budgeted in the state budget for a compensation programme for the demining of agricultural land.

"In 2025, we will also focus on ensuring that operators are actively involved in auctions for demining services and subcontracting to international and private operators. We look forward to engaging our partners in the programme," she added.

This year, it was possible to localise the production of demining equipment from DOK-ING, which has already opened an office in Ukraine. In June, their MV-4 vehicle was the first to receive certification under the new international standards. Ukrainian companies are also working at their innovations. The first Ukrainian-made demining vehicle has also already been certified. Another Ukrainian solution is expected to be certified in December-January.

‘We have a number of incentives to encourage Ukrainian manufacturers to create domestically. In particular, we have launched a 15% compensation programme for the purchase of Ukrainian demining machines. We are also in dialogue with our partners to buy equipment for Ukraine in Ukraine, as up to 40% of the cost of such a purchase is returned to the budget. This also helps to create jobs and motivates manufacturers to invest in their development,’" said Yuliia Svyrydenko.

This year, the Government also unified the certification process for mine action operators. As a result, the pace of certification has doubled. Prior to the adoption of the resolution, we had 30 operators, now there are 69.

As a next step, the Government plans to make it possible to get certified almost without leaving the office. A decree on the digitalisation of this process has already been adopted. The following stage is the technical solution, which is expected to be adopted next year.

The Government and operators are also using modern innovative solutions for demining - from drones to artificial intelligence, from remote control machines to lasers. They are constantly being tested at training grounds, and some of the developments have proven to be effective.

A pilot project is being implemented in Kharkiv region to explore the priority of demining using artificial intelligence to analyse satellite imagery.

This year, the Government officially introduced a new profession - deminer - and began issuing vouchers for training in this speciality. Also, with the support of UNDP, training was provided for veterans who suffered during the war and want to demine our land. Now the second enrolment for this speciality has started and the competition is rather high - 10 candidates for one place.

"I strongly believe that next year will be no less fruitful for us. We will expand the compensation programme and encourage our partners to join it, continue to develop innovations, and hope to increase the capacity of Ukrainian demining equipment manufacturers. Our priority for the next year is to introduce Made in Ukraine principles in demining. We are working on manufacturing Ukrainian machines, increasing the level of localisation of demining equipment, thus improving the speed of maintenance and repair, so that the machines can be brought back to the fields within a few days after being blown up," summed up Yuliia Svyrydenko.