Ukraine calls on partners to purchase machinery and equipment for the needs of demining activities from Ukrainian manufacturers. This was stated by the co-chair of the group, First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine - Minister of Economy Yuliia Svyrydenko at the III meeting of the Humanitarian Demining sectoral working group (SWG).

“The priority for us today is the development of Ukrainian production of machinery and equipment for demining. The Made in Ukraine economic policy implemented by the Government is extremely relevant, including for the field of mine action. Localization and development of domestic production of machinery and equipment will not only contribute to the faster resolution of large-scale tasks for cleaning up the territory of Ukraine. This is important as a contribution to economic growth today and to ensure self-sustainability of Ukraine’s economy in the future. We urge our partners to give preference to Ukrainian products when purchasing machinery and equipment for the needs of demining activities in Ukraine, and if there are alternatives,” Yuliia Svyrydenko said.

As discussed during the SWG meeting, this position of Ukraine is well-argued and has support among partners.

The participants of the III meeting of the Humanitarian Demining sectoral working group discussed the entire range of issues in the field of mine action in Ukraine. Key attention was paid to issues of further strengthening of coordination between all participants of the process.

As it was mentioned, today Ukraine and partners have developed a vision of cooperation mechanisms, both at the strategic and practical levels. The areas and forms of cooperation that will give the greatest effect are being developed. For example, the work of partners in niches in which they have unique advantages, coordination of justified needs, digitization of support and needs, long-term financing mechanisms, etc. The task for the future is to constantly improve the coordination process and make it even more effective, based on the already achieved results. And also to implement various developments of the SWG in the practical plane.

As Yuliia Svyrydenko emphasized in her speech, the synchronization of the plans of Ukraine and donors remains extremely important. Currently, at the final stage of adopting the Mine Action Strategy, work is underway on the Operational Plan, which will contain specific and detailed tasks for the implementation of the Strategy.

“We strive to ensure the development of the field of mine action based on the long-term vision agreed by the Government of Ukraine and partners. The Strategy and Operational Plan allow us to better coordinate Government priorities and planning partners. Thus, the aid that Ukraine receives and will receive will be used in the most effective way. We are grateful to those partners who have already adopted multi-year support programmes for Ukraine, and we are open to similar work with other partners,” Yuliia Svyrydenko said.

During the SWG meeting, the participants were also informed about the key tasks for 2024, which the Ukrainian Government is currently working on. In particular:

• Strengthening the potential of state mine action operators. Several thousand deminers in the new units need training and equipment.
• Process automation. Joint work with Palantir Technologies continues on a system that will allow prioritizing tasks based on the greatest economic and social impact.
• Launch of the market for demining services.
• Returning agricultural land to use. Currently, the plan is being implemented, which provides for the survey and, if necessary, the cleaning or demining of more than 512 thousand hectares of agricultural land. As of the beginning of May, more than 108,000 hectares of land have already been put back into operation.

As a reminder, the Humanitarian Demining sectoral working group was created in September 2023. The group is intended to become a single platform for comprehensive coordination between the Government of Ukraine and international partners in the field of humanitarian demining. The co-chairs of the sectoral working group are First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine - Minister of Economy Yuliia Svyrydenko, Coordinator of the UN system in Ukraine, Humanitarian Coordinator Denise Brown and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Ukraine Kuninori Matsuda.

Representatives of about 50 partner countries and international organizations participate in the work of the Humanitarian Demining SWG.