Our main task is to accelerate the pace of humanitarian demining, - Yulia Svyridenko
First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine, Minister of Economy of Ukraine in the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine Yulia Svyridenko discussed the issue of accelerating humanitarian demining in Ukraine with Denise Brown, permanent coordinator of the UN system in Ukraine and coordinator of humanitarian issues. Serhiy Kruk, Head of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, also took part in the meeting.
"By the end of 2023, we plan to clear more than one and a half thousand square kilometers of agricultural land. This, on the one hand, will help to avoid the deepening of the food crisis in the world, and on the other hand, will contribute to the stabilization of our economy," said Yulia Svyridenko.
In total, 174,000 square kilometers of Ukraine are contaminated with remnants of кussian mines and unexploded shells. Where possible, Ukrainian and foreign explosive technicians demine these areas. About 2,000 thousand specialists are currently working.
Sappers have already cleared 15,000 kilometers of roads, railway tracks, power lines, demined more than 10,000 homes and 70,000 hectares of agricultural land from the remnants of russian explosive "garbage".
"The main task is to accelerate the pace of humanitarian demining. For this, we continue to look for partners who will help us with special equipment for demining and training people who will work with it. We currently have only 12 machines for demining, and we need more than 80! Similar the situation with specialists - they are needed three times more than there are. The humanitarian demining coalition has already received the support of more than 30 countries and partner organizations. The UN is among them. For which I am very grateful to this organization. Now we want to deepen this cooperation. In particular, to The UN helped us with the training of pyrotechnicians and the involvement of innovative technologies in this process," said Yuliya Svyridenko.
