Ukrainian government compensates agricultural producers for part of demining costs

This was announced by Denys Bashlyk, Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine for Digital Development, Digital Transformation and Digitalization, the press service of the ministry reports.

"Full reconstruction and restoration of the Ukrainian economy is impossible without demining of all territories. This includes agricultural land. With this in mind, the Government plans to compensate our agricultural producers for part of the costs of purchasing demining services at open and transparent auctions in 2024," Bashlyk said.

He added that the government has allocated UAH 2 billion for this purpose in the draft State Budget for 2024.

In order to quickly and efficiently demine the territories, the Cabinet of Ministers will also stimulate the development of innovative industries and help attract investment in the further development of such enterprises, the official said.

Almost 19,000 square kilometers of land have been cleared of mines, and by the end of the year the government plans to return 165,000 hectares of agricultural land to use, Bashlyk said.

• In August, the Ministry of Economy said that it hoped to clear 80% of the land and return it to use in 10 years.

• In the same month, Ukraine's first domestically produced demining machine received a certificate of conformity. This development makes it possible to effectively defuse anti-personnel and detect anti-tank mines.

• On September 20, the Ministry of Economy reported that since the beginning of the year, more than 200,000 hectares of agricultural land have been surveyed, which have been identified for priority demining. 120,000 hectares are already used by farmers.

• On September 22, it became known that Ukraine would launch a market for humanitarian demining services through Prozorro.