Ukraine already has a fully functioning humanitarian demining market

This was announced by the First Deputy Prime Minister — Minister of Economy of Ukraine, Yulia Svyrydenko, following a meeting that took place today at the Mine Action Office of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, chaired by Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.

According to her, by the beginning of 2025:

🔹 1900+ km² have been returned to productive use;

🔹 The total area of cleared land is nearly 37,000 km².This is tens of thousands of hectares that are once again contributing to the economy, communities, and farmers.

What has already been done:

✅ Over 100 certified operators, including 8 international ones;

✅ Auctions have been opened, which reduced the average cost of demining 1 hectare by 17.32%;

✅ More than 847 million UAH have already been transferred to operators for clearing 14,000 hectares of agricultural land.

🇺🇦 National manufacturing of equipment is developing. 13 Ukrainian manufacturers, of which 9 have certified machines. Equipment such as "Germina," "HART," and "Zmiya" is already working in the fields.

💡 Modern technologies — drones, sensors, artificial intelligence systems, analytics, and the GRIT system — allow for the identification of priority demining areas based on facts, without human influence.

During the meeting, Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal emphasized:

💬 "We have made significant progress and at the same time, there are still many challenges that need to be appropriately addressed. Humanitarian demining is a key element of rapid recovery. Our goal is to continuously increase the pace of work to quickly clear Ukrainian fields, villages, cities, and infrastructure from mines."

According to the Prime Minister, the area of potentially mined land has decreased by more than 20% — from the end of 2022 to the present — and now stands at around 137,000 km². This is primarily agricultural land. Demining operations are being carried out by the State Emergency Service, the National Police, the Ministry of Defense, and non-governmental demining operators.

As a result of the meeting, the following was also discussed:

🔹 Support for farmers through the State Agricultural Register, which will become the sole tool for compensating demining costs;

🔹 The need for prompt entry of data into the register;

🔹 Demining of frontline territories;

🔹 Redistribution of powers in the field of operational and humanitarian demining for better coordination;

🔹 Acceleration of the launch of the Explosive Ordnance Contaminated Areas Register;

🔹 An action plan to attract international funds.

Ukraine has already formed an international coalition of over 50 countries and attracted $1.2 billion in aid for demining.

It is worth noting that the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine has identified "Ukrainian Demining Services" (UDS) as a critical company for the functioning of the economy.

✔️ According to the Mine Action Center, UDS is among the TOP-3 companies by the volume of land cleared.