Mykolaiv region to start demining fields at farmers' request: first tenders announced

Deminers clear land mines in Mykolaiv region. Archival photo: NikVesti

In the first half of March, Ukraine will hold the first three auctions for field demining. It is planned to clear more than 470 hectares of explosives, including in the Mykolaiv region.

According to Yuliia Svyrydenko, First Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of Ukraine, Ukrainian farmers have already submitted more than 100 applications for participation in the compensation programme.

«Ukrainian farmers have already submitted more than a hundred applications to participate in the compensation programme. Over the next two weeks, the winners will be selected to clear more than 470 hectares in Kharkiv and Mykolaiv regions. We are committed to increasing the number of sites to be cleared under the compensation programme. That is why we are intensifying our work with farmers so that the number of applications that meet the conditions for participation in the programme only grows», she said.

"The expected value of the auction is over 28 million hryvnias. The bidding will be held according to the classic English auction scheme in three rounds to reduce the starting price. The cost of clearing one hectare depends on the level of contamination of the territory.

The programme to compensate for the cost of demining agricultural land has been in place since September 2024. The state covers 100% of the costs of work on sites that are only planned to be cleared and 80% of the cost of demining. The state budget for the current year provides one billion hryvnias for this programme.

It is reported that 47 agreements have been concluded for the demining of more than nine thousand hectares of agricultural land since the programme began. As of February, operators have completed work under six agreements, clearing more than 668 hectares.

As a reminder, Mykolaiv region is still one of the most explosively contaminated areas in Ukraine.