Tony Blair Institute: Landmines Cause $11.2 Billion Annual GDP Loss

On September 10th, Kyiv hosted the Demining Ukraine: Resilience, Recovery and Global Food Security event. Among the participants were representatives of the National Operator for Humanitarian Demining, Ukrainian demining services - Deputy General Director Volodymyr Beshley and Director of Economics Oleksandr Romanyuk.

During the event, experts from the Tony Blair Institute presented a report quantifying the impact of landmines on the Ukrainian economy and global food security. First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Yulia Svyrydenko and philanthropist Howard Graham Buffett discussed the presented report and its implications for demining in Ukraine. The Ukrainian government unveiled a new National Mine Action Strategy and Operational Plan. Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Bohdan Drapyaty and Head of the Department of Environmental Security and Mine Action of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Colonel Ruslan Bereguly also presented reports on demining activities.

The Institute's report highlights that before the full-scale invasion, Ukraine produced enough food to feed 400 million people worldwide, and the mining of Ukrainian lands is now a problem not only for Ukraine but also a global issue.

Several facts and figures from the report:

1. Ukraine is the most mined country in the world. According to experts, the area contaminated with mines and unexploded ordnance exceeds 139,000 square kilometers.
2. Landmines cause annual GDP losses of $11.2 billion, equivalent to approximately 5.6% of GDP in 2021.
3. According to the Institute, annual exports of agricultural products and food from Ukraine are $4.3 billion lower than they could be due to landmines and unexploded ordnance.
4. The National Mine Action Strategy adopted by the government sets an ambitious goal of returning 80% of Ukraine's territory to productive use within 10 years.
5. According to the World Bank, the full demining of our country will cost $34.6 billion.  

"The event is beneficial for both market participants and the government. It is important that the opinion of the respected expert community coincides with the opinion of mine action operators - to accelerate the clearance of Ukrainian lands, bold decisions from the Ukrainian Government and support from its partners are needed, as well as increasing funding for mine action, including for the development of technologies, the introduction of new standards and protocols in the field of demining. Such steps will contribute to the development of the demining market and allow attracting the necessary number of sappers. After all, Ukraine needs 10,000 sappers to carry out demining work, but currently,there is only a third of that number. We have repeatedly emphasized this, and the operators have also. I am sure that through joint efforts we will achieve the desired results," emphasized Volodymyr Beshley, Deputy General Director of UDS.