(KYIV, UKRAINE) – Mine clearance operators cleared 210 hectares of agricultural land in Ukraine during July under a state programme that compensates the cost of humanitarian demining, the Ministry of Economy and Environment has reported.
Two agreements for the clearance of farmland were completed during the month. Operators received 13.2 million Ukrainian hryvnia for the work carried out. This sum equals roughly $320,000, about £256,000 or €295,000. The average cost of clearing one hectare under the programme in July stood at 62,900 hryvnia, or approximately $1,525, £1,220 and €1,405.
Work continues under 43 contracts covering demining of agricultural plots totalling about 11,700 hectares. A further 100 contracts have already been fulfilled, returning 16,410 hectares of land to use. The total value of these completed works exceeded 966.2 million hryvnia, which is roughly $23.4 million, £18.7 million or €21.6 million.
The Humanitarian Demining Centre signed an additional 14 contracts in July for clearing agricultural land covering more than 1,400 hectares. The expected cost of these works stands at about 170 million hryvnia, or around $4.1 million, £3.3 million and €3.8 million.
The humanitarian demining programme is financed under the Ukraine Facility Plan, a financial support instrument provided by the European Union.
Under the agreements already signed, the Humanitarian Demining Centre has also begun clearing land belonging to the State Land Bank. Three plots totalling almost 1,300 hectares are located in the Kharkiv region, and a further plot of 606 hectares is in the Mykolaiv region.
The centre has also concluded contracts for demining land owned or leased by private households. These plots range in size from 1.7 hectares to more than 73 hectares.
The latest figures add to a wider national clearance effort. Defence Ministry demining units cleared 923 hectares of territory liberated from Russian occupation forces during July. Ukraine remains one of the most heavily mined countries in the world, with roughly 156,000 square kilometres potentially contaminated by explosive ordnance.
The economic cost of this contamination is immense. The World Bank has estimated that complete clearance could require $37 billion, equivalent to about £29.6 billion or €34 billion. Returning agricultural land to productivity is a central part of Ukraine’s economic recovery strategy, given the farm sector’s role as a leading export earner.