Ukraine Building Coalition of Nations to Raise $37.4Bln for Demining Efforts - Shmyhal

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 05th April, 2023) Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said Tuesday that his country has set up a so-called State Humanitarian Mine Action Center to carry out $37.4 billion worth of demining efforts, which will be funded with the support of Kiev's international partners.

"Ukraine needs fast and thorough humanitarian demining of the territories. Given the scale of the work, the Government has identified such demining as one of the five key priorities for rapid recovery... According to the law 'On Mine Action' and in order to better coordinate all work in this area, a separate structure, the State Humanitarian Mine Action Center, was established," Shmyhal said at a government session.

The prime minister noted that Kiev has created a broad coalition of states that will help ensure that "the demining process does not take decades.

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"The European Union, the United States, Canada and Japan are currently the leaders in supporting humanitarian demining. USD 16 million of international technical assistance has been attracted, and there are preliminary agreements on another USD 73 million," Shmyhal added.

According to the World Bank, the entire complex of humanitarian demining works will cost $37.4 billion, the prime minister said. He noted that this year's requirements alone have totaled over $397 million.

According to the prime minister, the center will participate in the planning of anti-mine activities, ensure the operation of the quality management system for mine clearance and develop cooperation with international partners. The government has approved a plan to demine over 470,000 hectares (1.2 million acres) of agricultural land in nine regions of Ukraine, Shmyhal added.