There are not enough organizations in Ukraine that provide free humanitarian demining. The prices paid by commercial operators are too high for commodity producers affected by the war. Dmytro Kokhan, the UAC Deputy Chairman, talks about the nuances of demining, tax benefits and lending problems in the de-occupied territories, and the need to form a commercial demining market in Ukraine.

"It is clear that farmers have no time to wait for humanitarian demining to arrive. They are now starting to turn to commercial operators, of which there are several in the country. Some of them have less damage, or had some funds, or managed to sell their crops before the war, saved some funds, and can afford it. There are those who have nothing at all, and for them demining at their own expense is a bit of a stretch," explained Dmytro Kokhan.

The prices of such work are different because of the hostility’s intensity.

"There are regions where almost every meter is laid with mines - the cost of demining there is cosmic, which farmers cannot pay. In my opinion, this problem should be solved exclusively through the formation of a commercial demining market in Ukraine. There should be grant programs and state support programs for demining. As far as we know, the draft state budget for the next year includes certain funds to support affected enterprises and compensate for part of the cost of demining," the UAC Deputy Chairman added.

He reminded that this year tax benefits were introduced for farmers, and enterprises affected by the hostilities could be exempted from paying land tax:

"Everyone is granted the benefit, including retroactively, for the period of occupation, as well as for the period when the company is in the war zone. It is clear that there are certain difficulties and tax debts. And to apply for the benefit retroactively, you need to go to the tax office, check everything, go through certain administrative things, but everyone gets this benefit."

Farmers can apply for benefits after the de-occupation of the territory and the end of hostilities in one of two ways.

The first way is to contact the mine action operator, who conducts a survey and determines that the land plots are mined. The operator enters this data into the State Land Cadastre. Then such a land plot receives a tax exemption from paying land tax until it is cleared of mines. This data will also be entered into the register by the mine action operator after the territory is demined.

"This is not a widespread case, but everyone who has a confirmed mine can receive this benefit," said Dmytro Kokhan.

The second way to get the benefit is to apply to local governments with a request to give them an individual tax benefit because the land plot is potentially mined.

The situation with bank lending is very difficult in the de-occupied territories. 

Such losses should be covered by the state budget. Now quite a bit of time has passed, and banks want their loans to be repaid. This will most likely require some government decisions, but it is difficult to say what they might be. This is a problem that requires government intervention, and unfortunately, it will not be solved otherwise," the UAC Deputy Chairman summarized.