The first internal partner of Ukraine in demining agricultural land has been determined

The Humanitarian Demining Center has signed the first contract with the winner of the auction for demining agricultural land in Ukraine. The auction was won by the demining operator "Ukrainian Demining Services." They secured the right to de-mine a plot of land covering 86 hectares in the Shevchenkivska community of Mykolaiv region.

According to the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine, this agreement is the first concerning the demining of agricultural land. Thanks to competition in the Prozorro system, the initial price was reduced by over 1 million UAH. Additionally, there have been a total of 11 similar auctions in the Prozorro system. Each auction had between 2 to 6 participants, and the price reduction during the bidding exceeded 18%. This is expected to save the state budget over 44 million UAH.

The farming enterprise that won the auction submitted an application in July to participate in the state program for compensation of demining costs for agricultural land. The area that needs to be demined consists of 12 plots of varying levels of difficulty. These plots contain cluster munitions, anti-personnel and anti-vehicle mines, and ammunition for small arms. Some plots are covered with grass, while others also have trees and reeds. For demining the plot, the operator will receive 4.85 million UAH.

In total, the Humanitarian Demining Center within the Prozorro system has announced 20 auctions for the procurement of demining services for agricultural land with a total area of 6,690 hectares. The next 9 auctions are scheduled for October 1. The area of the plots for which demining services will be procured is 2,470 hectares, and the starting price is over 172 million UAH.

It should be noted that analysts from the Kyiv School of Economics indicate that the sum of indirect losses for Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion, including current and forecasted losses in revenue and added value, is estimated at $1.164 trillion and $385.7 billion respectively. The largest amounts of indirect losses in terms of revenue pertain to the productive sectors and agriculture ($83.1 billion). Significant additional costs are associated with demining, amounting to $42 billion.