Ukraine's current 3,500 sappers cannot keep up with demands – Ministry of Economy
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Currently, 3,500 sappers work in Ukraine, but this is insufficient to demine territories contaminated by explosive objects.
Deputy Minister of Economy Ihor Bezkaravainy, who coordinates humanitarian demining, emphasized this in an interview with Ukrinform.
The official noted that according to the latest data, 3,500 sappers are currently working in Ukraine.
"But imagine 3.5 thousand sappers – people who know how to clear mines. This is a huge number, but it is not enough for us. I think that if we even collect all the sappers or trained people who can clear mines from all over the world and bring them to Ukraine, it will still not be enough," said Bezkaravainy.
He says governmental and non-governmental operators of mine countermeasures operate in Ukraine. There are about 15 of the latter.
"There is a market, there is a need, there are those who are ready to pay money, there are those who are ready to work in this market. And there is a global community, an expert environment, which for 40 years has been engaged in demining all over the world and was everywhere – and has never seen anything like this before. Therefore, the task of the government, and specifically of the Ministry of Economy, is to form stable relations between those who want to order this service and are ready to pay for it and those who want to provide this service by state standards of Ukraine," Bezkaravainy explained.
To become a mine action operator, you must have a duly registered legal entity in Ukraine.
At the same time, even without directly dealing with demining, the company can be a mine countermeasures operator ""because it will go to the village, tell people how not to interact with dangerous objects, etc., the official noted.
"If the company wants to be a more advanced operator of mine countermeasures, the next level (level – ed.) is a technical survey of the territory. They collect evidence of dangerous objects in the territory, put it on a map, and thus identify these dangerous areas. The third level is the clearance of the combat area, technical inspection, etc. Depending on the procedure that will be performed, you must have a certain list of equipment and qualified people. Under this procedure, a standard operating procedure is written. Under this procedure, the availability of equipment and qualified personnel is shown. When everything is evaluated, a certificate is issued: dear [Sir/Madam], you are a mine action operator. There are currently about 15 mine action operators who are not part of the government, if I'm not mistaken," the deputy minister clarified.
For reference:
On January 12, the Lithuania-led demining coalition in support of Ukraine met in Vilnius to discuss Kyiv's needs and possible contributions from partners. The meeting was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine and the General Staff of Ukraine's armed forces, as well as representatives of 19 partner countries, whom representatives of six other countries joined via video link.
As previously reported by Rubryka, the Ukrainian government allocated more than UAH 788 million for fortifications and demining of territories at an extraordinary meeting.
It was also reported that since the beginning of the year, thanks to the work of the pyrotechnic divisions of state bodies and non-governmental operators, more than 200,000 hectares of agricultural land scheduled for priority inspection and demining have been returned to use by Ukrainian farmers.
In addition, the defense ministers of Türkiye, Bulgaria, and Romania signed an agreement to demine the Black Sea.
