Ukraine to Update Approach to De-Mining Agricultural Lands

The Humanitarian De-Mining Center will launch a new strategy aimed at improving the de-mining process of agricultural lands. In particular, large areas that were previously considered for de-mining will be divided into smaller sections of 200 hectares, allowing for more operators to be involved and accelerating the return of lands to active use.

This is reported by AgroReview

This information was provided by the Committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on Agricultural and Land Policy, citing data from the Ministry of Economy. It was noted that the results of the six-month operation of the state program for compensating the costs of de-mining agricultural lands showed that the participation of large areas in auctions is ineffective. A limited number of operators capable of performing such volumes of work attend these auctions.

“Therefore, if a farmer applies for the clearance of, for example, 1,000 hectares, the Humanitarian De-Mining Center will announce five procurements of 200 hectares each in the Prozorro system,” the Verkhovna Rada explained.

This change will simplify participation in auctions for new operators who do not yet have sufficient experience. They can now compete for the right to de-mine areas of up to 50 hectares.

According to information from the Mine Action Center, inspections are already underway on 14 areas that have been de-mined by operators. If the inspection results are positive, over 3,500 hectares of land may be returned to operation in the coming months.