The return to agricultural use of approximately 208,000 hectares of the most fertile land, the strengthening of the capabilities of government institutions—State Emergency Service and State Special Transport Service , accelerated development of domestic production of demining equipment, and the creation of a powerful pool of international donors and the assistance already received by Ukraine are among the results highlighted by First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine and Minister of Economy Yulia Svyrydenko for the year 2023 in the field of demining activities.
"At the beginning of 2023, we started with not very encouraging figures—no heavy demining machinery, 6 demining operators, 1,500 sappers. We began the new year with almost 30 machines, 26 operators, and over 3,000 sappers. Also, with the assurance of partners ready to invest nearly half a billion euros in humanitarian demining in Ukraine. Some partner countries and international organizations have already started allocating these funds," noted Yulia Svyrydenko.
Due to the strengthening of the capacities of government institutions and an increase in the number of inspection and demining operators, there has been significant progress throughout the year. Yulia Svyrydenko mentioned that if at the beginning of 2023, 174,000 km² of Ukrainian territories were considered potentially dangerous, today, due to demining activities, only 156,000 km² remain in that category. This means that 18,000 km² of fields, forests, and water areas have been returned to people for use.
Yulia Svyrydenko specifically highlighted the results of surveying and clearing agricultural lands designated for priority return to economic use.
Over the year, the demining teams of the State Emergency Service, State Special Transport Service, and private operators surveyed 274,000 hectares of agricultural land, which is 58% of the four-year plan. Out of these lands, 208,000 hectares have already been returned for agricultural use. Taking the average wheat yield in the country in 2023 as an example, it is estimated that nearly a million tons of grain could be grown on these reclaimed lands, worth over $225 million (8.4 billion UAH) when selling abroad based on New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) prices. This is approximately 750,000 tons of flour if the grain is processed in Ukraine, or about 6 million loaves of bread on store shelves annually. If sunflowers were planted on the cleared lands, domestic producers could have produced approximately 266 million bottles of oil (850 ml each) from the harvested seeds.
Various crops were cultivated by farmers on the returned lands. The priority demining of vegetable-growing lands allowed for the supply of domestically consumed vegetables. Items such as watermelons from Kherson, tomatoes, and peppers from Mykolaiv were available again. Traditional dishes like kutya or dumplings consumed during Christmas might have been made from wheat grown on demined lands in Kharkiv, Kyiv, Chernihiv, and Sumy regions. Yulia Svyrydenko expressed gratitude to the DSNS, DSST, and Ukrainian and international non-governmental demining operators for these achievements.
As noted by the First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine, there is still a lot of work ahead. The goal is to return 80% of potentially mine-affected territories to use within 10 years.
In 2023, significant steps were taken towards achieving the goal of returning mine-affected territories to use, including:
• The development of the National Mine Action Strategy, currently in the final stages of approval. This strategy is a key document that will determine the directions for shaping and implementing policies in this field. Proposals are planned to be developed for updating the law "On Mine Action in Ukraine."
• Ongoing work on creating a demining services market. Three billion UAH has been allocated in the state budget for 2024 to compensate farmers who will purchase demining services for their fields from demining operators. The compensation program will be operational this year.
• Advancement in the production of domestic demining equipment. Ukrainian manufacturers have developed and started producing machines for preparing the soil for demining. The first such machines are already operating in the fields of Kharkiv region. Domestic enterprises are also expanding the production of vehicles for transporting explosives, other specialized equipment, and Ukrainian mine detectors.
Ukraine is actively incorporating and utilizing innovative approaches, such as algorithms for creating maps of contaminated lands, including the use of satellite imagery. Drones, state-of-the-art technical devices, and artificial intelligence are also employed in demining efforts.
"Thanks to the joint work this year, we will be able to free our land from Russian mines at an even faster pace," emphasized Yulia Svyrydenko.
