The Ministry of Economy of Ukraine and the International Trust Fund (ITF) have discussed potential projects to be financed in 2025. At the ITF board meeting, Yuliia Svyrydenko, First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine - Minister of Economy, called for funds to be allocated for the purchase of Ukrainian demining equipment for the State Emergency Service and the State Special Transport Service, as well as to support projects and grants to develop innovations and training programmes for veterans seeking employment in the mine action sector.

"The Ministry of Economy coordinates humanitarian demining efforts and the effective use of donor funds. Therefore, we are ready to help jointly identify specific programmes for funding under the ITF. This will help us plan humanitarian demining activities for next year. It is also crucial for us that donor funds are used to purchase demining equipment and machinery produced in Ukraine, as this has a double effect - it creates jobs in our country and supports the budget with taxes,” Yuliia Svyrydenko said.

She reminded that international organisations, including UN agencies, have already purchased Ukrainian equipment. According to her, such purchases return up to 40% of the amount spent to the budget.

Yuliia Svyrydenko presented the specific needs of the State Emergency Service and the State Special Transport Service, including ambulances, personnel transport vehicles, metal detectors, off-road vehicles and other equipment.

In addition, the First Deputy Prime Minister invited the ITF to join in funding grants for demining innovators and training programmes for veterans as well as veterans seeking to work in humanitarian demining.

The Government is working to accelerate humanitarian demining by training deminers and building the capacity of local operators. In 2023, Ukraine had only 6 demining operators and about 1,500 deminers, and no heavy equipment at all. Today, 98 specialised heavy vehicles and more than 4,000 deminers are clearing Ukrainian land, and the number of operators has increased to 66. Over the past 10 months, more than 289,000 hectares of agricultural land, of which 255,000 hectares have already been handed over to farmers, have been surveyed.

“Our goal is to return 80% of potentially contaminated land to productive use over the next ten years. This goal can only be achieved through systematic actions and a strategic approach,” Yuliia Svyrydenko said.

To help farmers with demining, the Government has launched a mechanism for compensation for demining services, where 100% of the cost is covered by the state budget. Yuliia Svyrydenko invited partners to join the initiative and support the expansion of this programme with credit and grant opportunities for farmers and operators.