The World Bank is launching a new project of inclusive support for Ukrainian farmers

Ukrainian farmers will receive help from the World Bank - the organization is launching a new project to provide inclusive support for Ukrainian farmers. As part of the implementation of the project, more than 90,000 agricultural producers will be able to receive, in particular, soft loans and grants for agricultural production. In fact, it will facilitate agricultural producers' access to preferential financing in 2023 and 2024 and will enable the mobilization of about $1.5 billion in working capital.

The project will also complement the World Bank's support to Ukrainian agriculture, which is designed to accelerate private investment and strengthen partial credit guarantees for small farmers. The financing of the project consists of a loan from the World Bank in the amount of $230 million from the Trust Fund for providing necessary credit support to Ukraine, which is supported by the Government of Japan. The funding also includes a $320 million grant from the Target Fund for Support, Restoration, Reconstruction and Reform of Ukraine. The innovative design of the project involves attracting additional financing in the amount of up to $150 million, when such funds are available from the World Bank and donors.

The project will be implemented by the Entrepreneurship Development Fund and the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine. This is already the fifth World Bank project approved for Ukraine this year under the innovative and flexible framework model. It provides for the ability to quickly mobilize partners' resources to finance the most urgent needs, and such funding can be expanded as necessary when additional funds become available.

Meanwhile, Ukraine continues to create conditions for the work of farmers. Sappers have already returned almost 180,000 hectares of agricultural land to use. A total of 234.76 thousand hectares of land have been surveyed since the beginning of the year.

"178,000 hectares are lands on which, according to the results of the survey, no mines and explosives were found, or cleared and demined lands. A very powerful result," said Yuliya Svyridenko, First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine and Minister of Economy of Ukraine.

According to her, it will be more difficult in the future, because the survey and demining of lands with a high density of contamination are ahead.

We would like to remind you that the plan for the priority return of agricultural lands provides for the priority survey and, if necessary, the cleaning and demining of more than 470,000 hectares of agricultural land. The plan is expected to be implemented within four years. Lands are examined in order of priority, taking into account the density of pollution and the economic feasibility of cleaning. The latter, in turn, depends on the type of crops that are planned to be sown on the cleared territory. So, in the first place, the least contaminated lands with, in particular, perennial plantations and on which vegetable and melon crops are planned to be demined are to be demined.

At the same time, farmers are asked not to carry out demining on their own - the head of the Committee on Agrarian and Land Policy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Oleksandr Haydu called on farmers not to carry out independent demining of fields and not to go out to work on unsurveyed areas.

"There has been information that there are cases in the Kherson region when farmers try to demine fields on their own. Before that, also in the Kherson region, a farmer hired unlicensed workers who were supposed to demine his land. As a result, a person died. I appeal to the farmers: under no circumstances put your own life at risk!", Oleksandr Haydu said.