605 hectares of agricultural land cleared of mines under humanitarian demining programme in May

In May, under the Humanitarian Demining programme:

• 605 hectares of agricultural land were cleared by mine action operators;
• 5 contracts for the clearance of agricultural land were completed;
• mine action operators received UAH 38.4 million for completed work;
• the average cost of land cleared in May under the programme was UAH 63,400 per hectare.

Work is currently ongoing under 27 contracts covering around 8,700 hectares of agricultural land. A total of 98 contracts have already been completed, returning 16,175 hectares to productive use. The total value of the work exceeded UAH 952.8 million.

In May alone, the Centre for Humanitarian Demining announced 37 tenders for the clearance of more than 6,500 hectares of agricultural land, with an estimated value of over UAH 760 million.

The Humanitarian Demining programme is funded as part of the implementation of the Ukraine Facility Plan, the European Union’s financial support instrument for Ukraine.

Also in May, Minister of Economy, Environment and Agriculture of Ukraine Oleksii Sobolev met with JICA Vice President Yuko Mitsui to discuss the integration of Japanese technologies into Ukrainian production and the development of “smart” demining solutions.

In addition, Deputy Minister of Economy, Environment and Agriculture Ihor Bezkaravainyi announced Ukraine’s intention to expand cooperation with NATO in the field of humanitarian demining, including through joint projects with the Alliance. The issue was discussed during a meeting with NATO’s Director for Defence and Security Cooperation Piers Cazalet in Brussels, held on the sidelines of a meeting of the Defence and Security Sector Committee within the framework of the NATO–Ukraine Council.