Distinguished colleagues, dear Ukrainians!

Today is observed International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action. Following the full-scale russian invasion, Ukraine has become the most contaminated country in Europe with mines, bombs and shells.

About 174,000 square kilometers of our land are peppered with explosive objects. This is the size of half the territory of Japan, one and a half of Greece, or two areas of Austria.

russia continues to kill even after we kick it out of our territories. It leaves behind a deadly legacy. Over the past month alone, 724 people have been blown up on russian mines, 226 of them killed.

Many fertile Ukrainian lands are unusable for cultivation. They are dangerous for farmers. But the harvests from these lands could feed more than 80 million people around the world. Especially in countries suffering from hunger.

Ukraine needs fast and thorough humanitarian demining of the territories. Given the scale of the work, the Government has identified such demining as one of the five key priorities for rapid recovery.

We have already formed a regulatory framework, intensified the work of the National Mine Action Authority, created an Interagency Working Group on Humanitarian Demining, and approved a plan to demine more than 470,000 hectares of agricultural land in nine regions of Ukraine.

Almost 350 demining groups involving Ukrainian and foreign specialists are working. About 320,000 explosive items have been neutralized. Mykolaiv region became the first region to start humanitarian demining of agricultural land.

Right now the sowing campaign across the country is underway. The second sowing season of the great war. Farmers in all regions have sown more than 500,000 hectares. Mostly in Ternopil, Vinnytsia and Khmelnytsky regions. In total, we expect to sow more than 13 million hectares this year. Therefore, all demining activities and assistance to our farmers are a high priority.

We express gratitude to all our and foreign pyrotechnics who are clearing Ukrainian land on a daily basis. This is a struggle for the future of Ukraine, and your contribution is extremely important.

Meanwhile, we realize that we have to change the pace of demining. Therefore, the Government of Ukraine initiates a new state policy in the field of mine action.

Its key elements are:

- updating national mine action standards;

- creation of an effective state demining program with prioritized territories;

- creation of a market for demining services, competition between demining operators, and involvement of as many international operators as possible with the financial support of our partners;

- educational and communication campaigns;

- active use of innovative technologies. Ukrainian and international manufacturers have a unique opportunity to test new technologies and confirm their benefits and effectiveness.

According to the law "On Mine Action" and in order to better coordinate all work in this area, a separate structure, the State Humanitarian Mine Action Center, was established.

The Center will participate in the planning of mine action measures and ensure the demining quality management system to operate. Certainly, the Center's representatives will also be actively involved in cooperation with our international partners.

Ukraine needs such support badly. We are building a broad coalition of countries that will help ensure that the demining process does not take decades.

The primary need for this year is financial resources. According to the World Bank estimates, the complete set of humanitarian demining works will cost USD 37.4 billion. The needs for the current year alone amount to more than USD 397 million.

We thank to everyone who contributes. The European Union, the United States, Canada and Japan are currently the leaders in supporting humanitarian demining. USD 16 million of international technical assistance has been attracted, and there are preliminary agreements on another USD 73 million.

We call on our partners to actively cooperate. In particular, the format of the G7 countries' patronage over the mined Ukrainian regions is promising. After all, humanitarian demining will help return life to the de-occupied territories. It will also allow us to implement other reconstruction projects, including on critical and transport infrastructure.

Finally, we have important news regarding macrofinancial stability. The IMF has approved a USD 15.6 billion under a New Extended Fund Facility Arrangement for Ukraine. Yesterday, the first tranche of USD 2.7 billion was transferred to the state budget. These resources will be immediately used to finance priority expenditures, including pensions, social payments, salaries for teachers and doctors.

I am grateful to our partners for their promptness, unwavering solidarity with Ukraine and support for the macro-financial stability of our country.

We are united in our efforts to win and recover.

Thank you for your attention! Glory to Ukraine!