More than 100 demining squads of the State Transport Special Service will be equipped with demining equipment with the funds that have been transferred to the account of the Ministry of Economy for the financing of humanitarian demining activities within the framework of the United24 platform in support of Ukraine. With funds from the account, which were donated by citizens of Ukraine and other countries, a heavy-duty operational pyrotechnic machine for the transportation of explosive ordnance will be purchased. The machine will be placed at the disposal of EOD units of the State Emergency Service.

This was the decision adopted by the Commission on Determining the Amount of Funds to Meet the Needs of Humanitarian Demining Activities at its first meeting on October 20, 2023.

During the meeting, funds in the amount of more than UAH 35.5 million, which were transferred to the account of the Ministry of Economy within the framework of the United 24 platform, were allocated. Previously, the State Transport Special Service and the State Emergency Service of Ukraine sent an appeal to the Commission about the need for funds, which contained proposals for financing humanitarian demining activities. As a result, after listening to the arguments of the applicants and discussing, the Commission has rendered a decision to allocate the available funds to the priority needs of both public services.

“First of all, I would like to express my gratitude to the citizens of Ukraine and the citizens of other countries who contributed to the financing of clearing the Ukrainian land of mines and explosives. To thank the ambassadors who do a lot inform people all over the world about the problem of landmines in Ukraine and help to solve it with their influence and actions.

Today, we have distributed the first UAH 35.5 million that were transferred to the account intended to consolidate donations for humanitarian demining. It is true that these funds are not enough to satisfy all the needs of Government structures involved in demining for civilian needs. Much larger sums are needed for this. It is not even enough to fully satisfy the most urgent needs. But gradually, with the help of partner countries and caring citizens, we will be able to significantly strengthen the capabilities of our EOD specialists and speed up the cleaning of the territory of Ukraine,” Ihor Bezkaravainyi, Deputy Minister of Economy of Ukraine, said at the end of the meeting. 

Metal detectors, bags for sappers and deminers, medical first-aid kits for EOD specialists will be purchased with the funds collected as part of the United 24 project initiated by the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy. About 500 sappers of the State Transport Special Service, who have recently completed their training, will be able to receive the equipment. And an operational heavy-type EOD vehicle for the transportation of explosive ordnance will arrive at the units of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine. 

As discussed during the commission meeting, both the euipment and the machinery  planned to be purchased will be of Ukrainian production. 

The Commission on Determining the Amount of Funds to Meet the Needs for Humanitarian Demining Activities was created by the order of the Ministry of Economy on August 30, 2023, in accordance with the Procedure for Using Accounts for Attracting Voluntary Contributions (Charitable Donations) in Support of Ukraine within the framework of UNITED24. The Commission included, in particular, representatives of the Ministry of Economy, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Strategic Industries, Ministry of Energy, Ministry of Digital Transformation, NGO Association of Sappers of Ukraine.

We will also remind that the First International Donor Conference on humanitarian demining in Ukraine, attended by representatives of more than 40 foreign countries - ministers of defense and foreign affairs, ambassadors and heads of foreign organizations, was recently held in Zagreb (Croatia). The Ukrainian delegation was headed by Yuliia Svyrydenko, First Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Economy of Ukraine.

According to the results of the event, a number of countries announced that they would provide support to Ukraine for humanitarian demining. In total, considering the funds previously received for demining and other war-related challenges, and taking into account the new aid packages announced at the Conference, the support amounts to almost half a billion euros.