Mined wealth: how the government is helping farmers free up Ukrainian land
3 January 11:49
Since September 2024, Ukraine has had a State Compensation Program for Mine Action on Agricultural Land, which helps farmers return their land to work. This week, for example, the government has extended the deadline for farmers to apply for compensation for the cost of demining agricultural land. This was reported by the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine, Komersant ukrainskyi reports.
The annual losses due to mines and other explosive devices in the fields reach more than $11 billion – this, and, of course, the pain for the rich Ukrainian land, encourages the authorities and farmers to more actively clear the fields of mines. Some farmers are even clearing fields of mines themselves.
The government is trying to respond to the needs of the farmers. For example, a recent government decision settled the issue of demining partially contaminated areas. If until now, the operator demined only the confirmed contaminated part of the cadastral plot, now he must confirm to the farmer the safety of the rest of the land by conducting a non-technical survey.
According to Ihor Bezkaravaynyi, Deputy Minister of Economy of Ukraine, the Ministry took into account the experience of the current year and developed changes to make the process of demining agricultural land faster and more efficient for both farmers and demining operators. In particular, the deadline for farmers to apply for the next budget period has been extended from November 15 to December 25, and applications submitted by December 5 will be considered in the current budget year.
“We have extended the application deadline, made opening an escrow account mandatory before bidding, and adopted safeguards to prevent conflicts of interest in land clearance,” the official emphasized.
How the mechanism of compensation for farmers works
In September, the Cabinet of Ministers increased the amount of compensation for agricultural producers planning to clear agricultural land from 80% to 100%. Bidding for the purchase of agricultural land demining services must be conducted exclusively at auctions in the Prozorro system with the participation of at least two bidders.
Farmers whose land is located in the de-occupied territories, where contamination or possible contamination with explosive ordnance has been confirmed after a non-technical survey. The designated areas must be located outside the 20-kilometer zone from the line of military contact or the state border.
The Humanitarian Demining Center verifies the applications submitted by farmers through the State Agrarian Register. It also announces auctions for demining services in the Prozorro system, and after determining the winning operator and the final cost of demining, transfers 100% of the amount to a special account opened by the farmer in one of the state-owned banks participating in the program.
The mine action operator will receive the entire reserved amount upon completion of demining and confirmation of the work performed by the Center.
Ukraine loses billions of dollars due to mined areas
Ukraine’s losses due to mines and other explosive hazards amount to $11.2 billion annually, equivalent to 5.6% of Ukraine’s GDP in 2021. The largest losses are due to a reduction in agricultural exports and a decrease in local tax revenues. This is stated in a study by the Tony Blair Institute conducted jointly with the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine.
According to the study, Chernihiv, Sumy, Mykolaiv, and Kharkiv regions lost more than 20% of their regional GDP due to mined areas. In total, local authorities are losing more than $1.1 billion in local taxes.
In its report, the Toni Blair Institute noted that the World Bank estimates that nearly $35 billion would be needed to demine the entire territory of Ukraine. And this money could be reimbursed by Ukraine in less than three and a half years after the land is completely cleared, the report says.
“It is to speed up the process of land clearance that the government has launched a compensation program for farmers who plan to clear the agricultural land they work on,” said Yulia Svyrydenko, Minister of Economy of Ukraine.
The state program of compensation for the demining of agricultural land was launched in September 2024.
How the territories are being cleared of mines
Since September 2024, the Center for Humanitarian Demining has signed 51 agreements with mine action operators for UAH 532 million following the results of auctions. This money will be used to clear thousands of hectares of agricultural land in Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, Kherson and Kyiv regions.
The State Budget of Ukraine for the next year provides UAH 1 billion for the compensation program. And one of the priorities for 2025 is to engage foreign partners in the demining of agricultural land.
In total, since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, demining experts have returned almost 35,500 square kilometers of Ukrainian land to productive use.
Ukraine is also strengthening its demining capabilities: the country has more than 150 heavy demining vehicles, more than 4,000 deminers and 69 mine action operators are already working, and about 60 more operators are in the process of being certified. The Cabinet of Ministers has simplified the certification process for mine action operators and they can now apply for a certificate through the Diia portal.
