The head of the Ukrainian Agrin Council, Andrii Dykun, took part in the discussion of the issue of humanitarian demining and cleaning of agricultural land from explosive objects, initiated by the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine.

Participants in the online event included Deputy Minister of Economy of Ukraine for Digital Development, Digital Transformations and Digitalization, Oleksiy Sobolev, Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine for Digital Development, Digital Transformations and Digitalization Denys Bashlyk, agribusinesses, business representatives and stakeholders.

During the meeting, they discussed pricing and principles of humanitarian demining, real plans and challenges that agricultural producers currently face. In particular, farmers shared their own experience and risks they have faced in the process of demining and voiced their expectations.

"The issue of demining territories is one of the most important for the agricultural sector. In Ukraine, more than 5 million hectares of land are not suitable for agricultural work - they are mined, contaminated with explosive objects or are still under military action. With the existing means and number of demining specialists in Ukraine, agricultural territories can only be surveyed in a few years, not counting the demining work itself. To speed up this process, we need to involve international companies and provide financial support to farmers for whom the cost of demining fields is too high. It is necessary to consolidate the efforts of representatives of the state, the agricultural sector and relevant organizations specializing in demining," Andriy Dykun said.

The representatives of the ministries analyzed the real possibilities of state support, including financial and voiced all possible options for assistance: co-financing, partial financing, special state programs, tenders, lending, banks involving and operators in the process, organizing training, creating a market of operators, etc.

"Mined lands are a real challenge for the agricultural sector, and time is playing against the state. Most of the areas have currently suffered the formation of pits, soil compaction, vegetation growth, which further complicates the cleaning process. We urgently need a high-quality survey of potentially contaminated areas, the introduction of the new technologies, monitoring, screening, the use of special equipment, drones, unmanned tractors, etc., and international support. Only in this way we can restore the usual scale of business activity and give agrarian the opportunity to start spring sowing as soon as possible," said the Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine for Digital Development, Digital Transformations and Digitalization Denys Bashlyk.

The parties agreed to work out the discussed proposals for the implementation of humanitarian demining and return to the development of practical steps for its implementation in the near future.