Ukrainian manufacturers have the capability to produce a significant amount of equipment and machinery required for humanitarian demining in Ukraine. This was highlighted by Yulia Svyrydenko, the First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine and Minister of Economy, during a meeting with government officials and representatives from companies manufacturing demining equipment, including PC "Pozhmashyna," Scientific-Production Association "Praktika," PJSC "Cherkasy Bus," LLC "Ukrainian Armored Vehicles," and State Enterprise "Kharkiv Special Machinery Plant."
"Domestic manufacturers have the capacity to produce the necessary equipment and machinery for demining with a high degree of localization of production in Ukraine. They are capable of producing hundreds of units of machines and other equipment per year for the destruction or transportation of explosive objects, transporting sapper units, manufacturing spare parts, and converting civilian construction machinery for demining purposes. We are determined to fully utilize the capabilities of Ukrainian manufacturers in producing such machines and equipment," said Yulia Svyrydenko.
Representatives from the demining equipment manufacturers expressed their readiness to produce several dozen heavy-type demining vehicles per year with localization ranging from 15% to 50%, up to a thousand vehicles for transporting demining teams, vehicles for transporting explosive objects, cargo trucks, armored loaders, and up to 5 units per month of ground preparation machines for demining.
Yulia Svyrydenko also mentioned that in August, the government will begin working on the preparation of the budget for the next year, and funding for the relevant budget program for the procurement of equipment from domestic manufacturers to meet the demining needs of the country will be included.
During the meeting, they also discussed issues related to expediting the certification of special machines for mechanized demining, retrofitting certain models of construction machinery for demining purposes, and the delivery timeline of the finished products to state customers.
It should be noted that due to the military aggression of the Russian Federation, over 174,000 square kilometers of Ukraine could potentially be contaminated with explosive objects. This year, Ukraine aims to survey, demine, and return up to 35% of agricultural land, covering 470,000 hectares, designated for priority demining, back into operation.
