Ukraine wants operators to demine Ukrainian land using domestically produced equipment. This was stated by the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of Ukraine Yuliia Svyrydenko during a meeting with UNITED24 Ambassador, famous actor Misha Collins and film director Darius Marder with the participation of Deputy Minister of Economy Ihor Bezkaravainyi and Acting Head of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine Andrii Danyk.

“Ukraine remains the most contaminated country in the world. About a quarter of the territory is considered potentially contaminated. We have set ourselves the goal of inspecting, demining and returning up to 80% of these lands to use in ten years. And with the help of the international community, our partners and donors, we are moving towards this goal.

Today, we are building the capacity of the operators who are clearing the territory. But the need for machinery and equipment remains significant. We aim to meet them using primarily Ukrainian products,” said Yuliia Svyrydenko.

According to her, the economic policy “Made in Ukraine” implemented by the Government is designed to promote the development of domestic production, including demining machinery and equipment.

During the meeting, the UNITED24 ambassador was shown samples of mine action equipment made in Ukraine and the principles of its operation. As noted, the domestic equipment fully meets the defined safety standards for its class and is effective. A significant part of the meeting was devoted to the needs of operators in machinery and equipment, as well as further cooperation aimed at strengthening the capacity of operators.

“Today we were shown the operation of machines for transporting explosives and personnel. And for me, as the Minister of Economy, it is very important that these are domestically produced machines. But our operators need more such vehicles. That is why we continue to work together to have more financial opportunities to purchase them,” said Yuliia Svyrydenko.

Background

Misha Collins is a well-known American actor whose ancestors once lived in Kyiv region and later emigrated to Canada. Misha Collins fully supports Ukraine, which is why he immediately responded to an invitation from the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, to become an ambassador for the UNITED24 fundraising platform in the field of humanitarian demining.

The funds raised by Misha Collins as part of the UNITED24 project were used to purchase a specialised vehicle to transport explosive ordnance.