Slovenia allocates €1.5 million to Ukraine for humanitarian demining
Photo: State Agency for Reconstruction and Development of Infrastructure of Ukraine
Slovenia will allocate €1.5 million to Ukraine for humanitarian demining, Rubryka reports, citing the Ministry of Economy.
What's the problem?
Currently, Ukraine is the most mined country globally. Almost one-third of its territory, about 174,000 square kilometers, is considered potentially dangerous.
Earlier, the Ministry of Economy reported that since the beginning of this year, over 225,000 hectares of agricultural land in Ukraine have been surveyed and cleared of mines. This accounts for nearly half of the land designated for priority return to economic use. Ukraine cannot handle this volume of work independently due to a lack of equipment and trained sappers.
What's the solution?
To address this, other countries are contributing to humanitarian demining. Slovenia, in particular, will provide Ukraine with €1.5 million for clearing Ukrainian lands of explosive objects.
The ministry reported that the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Ukraine to the Republic of Slovenia, Andrii Taran, and the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia, Tanja Fajon, signed the agreement that specifies that the funds will be provided on a non-refundable basis by the end of this year.
Photo: Ministry of Economy of Ukraine
How does it work?
"Today, Ukraine is incredibly grateful to receive €1.5 million from the people of Slovenia, which will help provide the State Emergency Service (SES) and the State Special Transport Service (SSTS) sappers with necessary personal protective equipment, gear, and demining machinery. These funds will accelerate the clearance of our country's territory from explosive devices and save the lives and health of many Ukrainians," said First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Yulia Svirydenko.
She expressed gratitude to Slovenia for participating in the sectoral working group coordinating donor efforts.
The minister stressed that Ukraine aimed to develop long-term solutions and initiate projects in close cooperation and dialogue with partners, addressing urgent needs and laying the foundation for long-term cooperation in this field.
In other news, the Ukrainian government aims to return 80% of these territories to economic use within ten years.
During the two-day Demining Bootcamp held in the capital on December 2-3, around 30 teams aspiring to participate in the innovation support program for humanitarian demining presented their projects.
The Ministry of Economy believes that artificial intelligence can assist in the humanitarian demining of Ukraine's territory.
30 teams of Ukrainian inventors unveil their work for humanitarian demining at Demining Bootcamp
United to win: Lithuania introduces revised "Demining Coalition" plan to assist Ukraine in landmine removal efforts
