The Ministry of Economy has improved the approach to the procurement of demining services for agricultural land
The Ministry of Economy of Ukraine, together with government structures in the field of mine action, held a meeting with PMD operators to discuss current issues. About 100 representatives of both Ukrainian and international operators took part in the meeting. As a result, it was possible to significantly improve the approach to the purchase of agricultural land demining services, informs press service of the Ministry of Economy.
Among the topics of interest to both Ukrainian and international operators were the prospects for the development of the humanitarian demining market, the introduction of innovative technologies, interaction with communities and farmers, as well as quality control of cleared areas.
“It is important for us to talk about what we were able to do together in humanitarian demining and how to move forward. 35 thousand square kilometers returned to use is a great result. We understand that the more we work with areas where active hostilities took place, the slower demining goes, but our task is to make these processes as efficient as possible.” – noted Deputy Minister of Economy of Ukraine Ihor Bezkaravainy.
Director of the Center for Humanitarian Demining, Volodymyr Baida, said that the Center for Demining is planning to divide large areas into smaller ones to simplify the process of purchasing agricultural land demining services. This should speed up the clearing of areas and attract more operators. He explained that in the case of a farmer’s application for the clearing of one thousand hectares, the Center will announce five purchases of 200 hectares through the Prozorro system.
“During half a year of work on the state program to compensate for the cost of demining agricultural land, we realized that auctioning large plots of land is not an optimal solution. Only a limited number of operators can come to such an auction, and they must have the ability to perform such work.
In addition, the funds will be transferred only after the site is cleared, which, depending on the area, may take six months or more. All this time, the operator is forced to pay the cost of the work out of his own pocket. Therefore, the decision to divide large plots of up to 200 hectares looks optimal”, Volodymyr Bayda emphasized.
He also reminded that the Center has simplified the conditions for participation in auctions for operators who do not yet have sufficient experience. They can participate in tenders for demining areas of up to 50 hectares.
