More than 150 heavy demining vehicles, 69 demining operators and over 4,000 sappers are already working to clear Ukrainian land of mines and explosive ordnance. This was announced by Yuliia Svyrydenko, First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine and Minister of Economy of Ukraine, during her speech at the Demine Ukraine 2.0 forum.
“As of 2022, 174,000 square kilometers of territory were potentially contaminated with mines and other explosive devices. This is, for example, more than 8.5 areas of Slovenia. Together with our partners, donors, and experts, we have made a huge step forward – more than 35,000 square kilometers have been surveyed and returned to productive use. Today we have more than 150 heavy demining vehicles, more than 4 thousand sappers and 69 demining operators, 60 operators are still undergoing certification,” emphasized Yuliia Svyrydenko.
She noted that the Government's goal is to return 80% of potentially contaminated areas to productive use over the next ten years.
In 2024, the Government managed to open the market for humanitarian demining services. To help farmers, the government has launched a compensation mechanism for demining services. The state covers 100% of the cost of such services to farmers. Its principle is that the site is put up for auction in Prozorro (Transparent) system, operators compete to provide services, and the state covers the cost of demining.
“As a result of 31 auctions, we have already signed agreements and managed to reduce the initial price by more than 17%. The savings amounted to more than 90 million. At the same time, we saw a significant demand for these services from farmers – more than 190 applications,” said Yuliia Svyrydenko.
She said that in 2025, the state budget allocated UAH 1 billion for the program of compensation for the demining of agricultural land.
“In 2025, we will also focus on ensuring that operators actively participate in demining auctions and subcontracts with international and private operators. We look forward to engaging our partners in the program,” she added.
This year, we managed to localize the production of demining equipment from DOK-ING Company, which has already opened an office in Ukraine. In June, their MV-4 machine was the first to be certified according to the new international standards. Ukrainian companies are also working on their own developments. The first Ukrainian-made demining machine has been certified as well. Another Ukrainian development should receive a certificate in December-January.
“We have a number of incentives to make Ukrainian producers want to create at home. In particular, we launched a 15% compensation program for the purchase of Ukrainian demining vehicles. We are also engaged in a dialog with our partners to buy equipment for Ukraine just in Ukraine, as up to 40% of the cost of such a purchase is returned to the budget. It also contributes to creation of jobs and motivates producers to invest in their development,” said Yuliia Svyrydenko.
This year, the Government has also unified the certification process for demining operators, which has doubled the pace of certification. Prior to the adoption of the resolution, we had 30 operators, and now there are 69.
As a next step, the Government plans to make it possible to get certified almost without leaving the office. There is already a resolution on the digitalization of this process. The next step is the technical decision, which is expected next year.
The government and operators are also using modern innovative solutions for demining – from drones to artificial intelligence, from remote control machines to lasers. They are constantly being tested at testing grounds, and some of the developments have proven to be effective.
By analyzing satellite imagery using artificial intelligence, a pilot project is being implemented in Kharkiv Oblast to investigate the priority of demining.
This year, the government officially introduced a new profession – deminer, and began issuing vouchers for training in this specialty. UNDP also supported training for veterans who suffered during the war and want to demine our land. Now the second enrollment for this specialty has begun and the competition is very high – 10 candidates for one place.
“I am convinced that next year will be no less fruitful for us. We will expand the compensation program and encourage our partners to join it, continue to develop innovations, and hope to increase the capacity of Ukrainian demining equipment manufacturers. Our priority for the next year is to introduce 'Made in Ukraine' principles in demining. We are working on manufacturing our own machines, increasing the level of localization of demining equipment, which will affect the speed of maintenance and repair, so that the machines can return to the fields even after explosions within a few days,” summarized Yuliia Svyrydenko.