Since the beginning of the year, explosive ordnance disposal units of state authorities and non-governmental operators have surveyed and returned over 200,000 hectares of agricultural land to Ukrainian farmers.
The press service of the Ministry of Economy reported this.
"Our sappers – units of the State Emergency Service, the State Special Transport Service, and non-governmental operators of demining activity – are demonstrating very good results. Even now, in winter, when the weather is not conducive to work in the fields, between 3,000 and 5,000 hectares of agricultural land are surveyed every week. To date, out of the planned 470,000 hectares of land to be surveyed, cleared, and demined if necessary, over 200,000 hectares have already been returned to agricultural use," said First Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Economy of Ukraine Yulia Svyrydenko.
According to her, the government and international partners are actively working to enhance the capacities of operators and strategic planning for all relevant stakeholders in the field of demining for the next 10 years.
Svyrydenko added that the ultimate goal is to safely return up to 80% of the country's territories, currently considered potentially contaminated, to use.
According to the Ukrainian Mine Action Center, as of December 15, 268.6 thousand hectares of agricultural land had been surveyed from the planned 470 thousand hectares for priority inspection and demining since the beginning of the year.
Out of this, approximately 205 thousand hectares have been returned to operation. Over 5 thousand hectares were surveyed in the past week, with the largest portion, 3.8 thousand hectares, in the Kherson region.
