Shmyhal: Government allocates UAH 3.5 billion for humanitarian demining to help farmers
Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal said that the government is allocating UAH 3.5 billion for a humanitarian demining project.
“There are already 47 mine action operators and more than 2.2 thousand sappers. There are 109 demining vehicles available, and another 68 are under contract. Our task is to return all farmers’ land to use as soon as possible,” he said during a government meeting.
According to him, 310,000 hectares of agricultural land have already been surveyed, demined and returned to use.
He stated that the agricultural sector remains one of the key sectors of the Ukrainian economy today: in the first half of the year, food exports from Ukraine amounted to $12.4 billion.
Therefore, according to the prime minister, the government supports farmers in three key areas: the first is financial programs (grants, compensation, and soft loans), the second is logistics assistance, and the third is humanitarian demining.
According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, 144,000 square kilometers of Ukraine remain “potentially mined”. On July 13, the Security Service of Ukraine reported that since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, more than a thousand civilians have been injured by explosive devices, 297 of whom have been killed..
A number of countries are helping Ukraine with demining, both with equipment and training for sappers.