In Ukraine, there are plans to prioritize the survey and return to economic use over 512,000 hectares of agricultural land.

This was announced by the First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine and Minister of Economy, Yulia Sviridenko.

The plan for the priority return of agricultural land to economic exploitation has been updated since the beginning of 2024.

"Now, according to the plan, over 512,000 hectares of agricultural land are subject to priority surveying and, if necessary, clearing and demining," the statement said.

Sviridenko reminded that over the past year, sappers have completed a significant amount of work on surveying and demining agricultural land.

"Over 274,000 hectares have been surveyed, which is more than half of the territories planned to be returned to farmers for use within four years," stated Yulia Sviridenko.

Ukrainian ground preparation machine for demining, October 2023, Kharkiv Region. Photo: Kharkiv Regional Military Administration

As explained by the Deputy Minister of Economy, Igor Bezkaravainy, the plan has been updated taking into account refined data. Representatives from the Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Agrarian Policy, and Ministry of Economy collaborated on the document.

"We have about 30 demining machines, which were not available at the beginning of last year. And there will be even more of them. Accordingly, we need to adjust our plans," said Igor Bezkaravainy.

At the same time, demining activities are approaching areas where intense battles took place.

According to the updated plan, the priority return of land to economic exploitation will take place in 8 regions.

The survey and, if necessary, clearing and demining are planned in the following regions:

• Donetsk Region - 12.8 thousand hectares
• Chernihiv Region - 2 thousand hectares
• Sumy Region - 85 hectares
• Dnipropetrovsk Region - 6.6 thousand hectares
• Kyiv Region - 9.4 thousand hectares
• Mykolaiv Region - 44 thousand hectares
• Kharkiv Region - 190 thousand hectares
• Kherson Region - 248 thousand hectares