To speed up demining, we will create the most favorable conditions for operators, Yuliia Svyrydenko
09.06.2023 | 13:26 | Section for Public and Mass Media RelationsThe issue of strengthening the capabilities of non-governmental mine action operators in Ukraine was discussed during the online meeting of First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine – Minister of Economy of Ukraine Yuliia Svyrydenko with the CEO of The HALO Trust James Cowen and representatives of the organization.
“Ukraine strives to speed up the clearing of territories as much as possible. Today, we are working on strengthening the capabilities of government institutions that conduct surveys and humanitarian demining of territories - these are units of the State Emergency Service, the Ministry of Defense, and the State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection. We are also interested in strengthening the potential of non-governmental operators already present in Ukraine and attracting new ones. The Government is ready to create the most favorable conditions for work in Ukraine,” Yuliia Svyrydenko said.
During the meeting, Yuliia Svyrydenko and James Cowan paid considerable attention to speeding up the clearance of mines and unexploded ordnance in Ukraine, coordination of actions, strengthening of demining capabilities. Today, Ukraine has 17 machines for demining, about 2,600 sappers, of which about 1,600 are engaged in surveying and demining priority areas, work. Considering the size of contaminated territories and the scale of the works, this is not enough. More machines and specialists are needed to speed up demining. Therefore, capacity building of both governmental institutions and non-governmental operators is one of the important tasks.
The parties also discussed practical issues of optimization of survey and demining works, the implementation of which can significantly speed up the process, plans for organizing the involvement of donor aid, etc.
We remind that the day before, First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine – Minister of Economy of Ukraine Yuliia Svyrydenko had a meeting with Ukrainian and foreign operators who are already demining the territory of Ukraine. The participants discussed the current problems of humanitarian demining and ways to solve them. In particular, the issue of certification of operators, nostrification of foreign specialists’ education, etc. As a result, it was agreed to solve the issues that arise for the operators as quickly as possible.