Yaroslav Nad: Despite the complexity of working conditions, the cost of demining in Ukraine is still many times cheaper than in Europe

Jaroslav Nad is a Slovak politician, Minister of Defense of the Republic of Slovakia in 2020-2023. He unquestioningly supported Ukraine both in the position of the Government and currently, despite Russia's attempts to prevent this. In the spring of 2024, Yaroslav Nagy was elected chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Ukrainian national mine countermeasures operator Ukrainian demining services (UDS).

In his interview, Yaroslav Nagy talked about the experience of other countries in demining, about the necessary changes to legislation in the field of mine action, as well as about what can accelerate the cleaning of Ukrainian lands from the explosive dirt of war.

Mr. Yaroslav, as the chairman of the supervisory board of UDS, tell us about your work in this company?

I joined the UDS team in the spring of 2024. That's when I was elected chairman of the supervisory board. The work of the supervisory board is to resolve any issues related to the company's activities. For example, recent decisions related to the joining of UDS to two associations: the Ukrainian National Association for Humanitarian Demining and the Ukrainian Association of Humanitarian Demining Operators. The most important is the adoption of procedures for the implementation of gender and environmental policies in the company. The concept of gender equality at UDS is based on the principle of equal participation of men and women in the company's activities. And these are not just words, because today a third of the company's staff are women, including combatants. This approach is correct and important, and corresponds to the NATO program "Women, peace and security".

Ensuring the appropriate level of environmental safety has also been an integral part of the work of UDS since the very beginning of the company's activities. That is why the Supervisory Board approved the key principles of environmental policy. And for more effective implementation, we also developed Standard Operating Procedure SOP 08.02 "Environmental Protection Measures".

What is the main vision of the company in its work?

The UDS company was established in 2023 in response to the call of the Ukrainian Government regarding the urgent need to develop the field of humanitarian demining. And the company boldly accepted this call. They prove their effectiveness with their daily work.

The company's goal is an environmentally safe and successful future and long-term development of the regions of Ukraine.

The company's work is based on several principles. Even, I would say values:

— The safety of personnel, the local population and the land that the company's deminers are demining is the main priority of UDS.

— Professionalism. The company takes a very responsible approach to the selection of specialists in the team and ensures constant improvement of their qualifications.

— Quality standards. This is a very important component. UDS has all certificates of compliance with NATO and ISO international standards.

— Cooperation with local communities, partners and donors based on trust and transparency. Partnership relations in such a difficult matter are very important.

— Innovations. The company is constantly improving demining methods, integrating the latest technologies into our work. For example, UDS was the first company to purchase Bozena remote demining machines for operation and actively uses them for humanitarian demining in the Mykolaiv and Kyiv regions. This not only reduces the cost of work, but also, most importantly, increases the safety of our sappers.

What goals does the team set for itself?

The main goal is to bring back to life the Ukrainian lands polluted by the war.

About 156,000 square meters of the territory of Ukraine are currently identified as potentially contaminated with mines and explosive objects. Today, the state and operators of mine countermeasures, including UDS, face a responsible task - to clean the lands contaminated by the war. And it is not only about the needs of Ukraine. We all know Ukraine's contribution to ensuring global food security. It cannot be overestimated, because before the full-scale war, grain from Ukraine fed more than 400 million people around the world. Today, due to the war started by Russia, which has been going on for 10 years, world food security is under threat. I will say more: I am sure that this is a challenge not only for Ukraine, but also for partners, because it is about restoring the world food order.

How do you assess the development of mine action in Ukraine and humanitarian demining in particular? What do you think should be adjusted or refined?

The field of humanitarian demining is actively developing. There are more and more operators.

For example, in the fall of 2023, 19 operators were certified in Ukraine, of which nine are Ukrainian, and as of the beginning of May 2024, there are 39 of them.

This is a logical process, because many specialists are needed for the fastest possible cleaning of lands contaminated by explosive objects. The implementation of the latest technologies and, of course, adequate financing are also not in the last place.

As for the finalization of the existing regulatory framework, everything would probably be fine