Around USD 70 million in aid and new demining equipment – results of the Ukraine Mine Action Conference in Lausanne
Around USD 70 million in aid and new demining equipment from Switzerland for the State Emergency Service’s demining units. These are the results of the Ukraine Mine Action Conference held in Lausanne last week, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said.
The Head of Government said that Ukraine had received additional pledged assistance from Canada, the Netherlands, Norway, Luxembourg, Latvia and other partners. The first specialised GCS-200 vehicle was handed over during the conference.
“We are grateful to our partners for their important assistance in clearing Ukraine of russian mines,” said Denys Shmyhal.
According to the Prime Minister, Ukraine has agreed with the UK and Switzerland on a pilot project to prioritise humanitarian demining. It will be implemented in Kharkiv region.
“The aim of the project is to develop an effective algorithm that will allow us to prioritise the clearance of areas that are needed by people and the economy,” the Head of Government said.
According to the Prime Minister, Ukraine has already returned 35,000 square kilometres of land to use. The state’s ambitious goal is to survey the vast majority of potentially mined areas by 2033.