The work of Ukraine and its partners in the field of mine action is yielding results. Since 2022, 35,000 sq km of Ukrainian territory have been made safe for people thanks to the joint efforts of the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and non-governmental operators. This was announced by Yuliia Svyrydenko, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of Ukraine, at the opening of the Ukraine Mine Action Conference (UMAC 2024), which started on 17 October in Lausanne, Switzerland.

“As of 2022, 174,000 square kilometres were potentially mined. As of today, our deminers have surveyed and returned 35,000 square kilometres to safe use. These impressive results have an impact not only on Ukrainians but also on global food security. Ukraine is now one of the top ten wheat producers in the world. Ukraine’s grain is imported by 57 countries. That is why food security is one of the key elements of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s Peace Formula,” said Yuliia Svyrydenko.

According to her, at the beginning of 2023, Ukraine had no heavy demining equipment, only six demining operators and 1,500 deminers. Thanks to the joint efforts of Ukraine and partners, today:

• a total of 98 mechanical demining machines and more than 4,300 deminers are working in the fields;
• 58 operators have been certified and another 57 are in the process of being certified.

To help farmers clear their farmland of mines, the Government has introduced a mechanism of 100% compensation for demining services from the state budget. To accelerate and reduce the cost of clearing the territories, the Government has launched a market for humanitarian demining services. Twenty-four tenders have already been announced in the Prozorro system and the first successful procurement has taken place. As a result of the bidding process, the cost of demining has been reduced by 18%.

Work is also underway to develop the production of demining equipment and machinery.

“An important area for the Ukrainian Government is the localisation and development of Ukrainian production of demining equipment and machinery. This will not only speed up, but also reduce the cost of clearing Ukraine of mines and explosive devices. In addition, it is a contribution to the development of the economy, as the production of equipment in Ukraine means new jobs and additional tax revenues to the budget,” said Yuliia Svyrydenko.

According to her, machines for preparing the soil for demining are being made in Kharkiv. These machines are already working in the fields. Lviv-based Rovertech has certified a machine called Zmiy, which is capable of surveying up to 2.5 hectares of land per day. Localisation is also in place. Today, 8 of the 45 mechanical demining machines of the Croatian company DOK-ING operating in Ukraine are made in Ukraine.

“We also promote the principle of ‘support Ukraine with Ukrainian resources’. We already have positive examples when UN agencies purchased equipment from Ukrainian manufacturers, thus supporting our economy. After all, up to 40% of the cost of equipment manufactured in Ukraine is returned to the budget in the form of taxes. And these funds can be used for the needs of the security and defence sector,” said Yuliia Svyrydenko.

In her speech, the First Deputy Prime Minister also stressed that Ukraine and its partners were working together to find innovative approaches to financing mine action. The implementation of new mechanisms will help to cover part of the costs of demining the territory of Ukraine.