The State Agrarian Register has launched a tool for farmers to apply for participation in the program to compensate for the cost of demining agricultural land. The program applies to both land directly owned by the farmer and land leased by him, the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Agrarian Policy reported, UNN.
Details
"The Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine, together with the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine and the Humanitarian Demining Center, announce the start of accepting applications for compensation for the cost of demining agricultural land through the State Agrarian Register," the Ministry of Agrarian Policy said.
The state budget has allocated UAH 3 billion for the compensation program.
"Today, we have launched a tool in the State Agrarian Register that will simplify the application process for farmers who want to clean up their land and do so with the support of the state. The state will cover 80% of the cost of land cleanup," said Yulia Svyrydenko, First Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of Ukraine.
Who can get involved
The program is open to farmers whose land is located in the de-occupied territories, where contamination or possible contamination with explosive ordnance has been confirmed after a non-technical survey. The farms themselves must not have tax debts, be bankrupt, belong to citizens of the aggressor state, or be on the sanctions list.
"I hope that interested farmers will soon take advantage of this opportunity and we will soon see the first auctions for demining agricultural plots," explained Deputy Minister of Economy of Ukraine Ihor Bezkaravayny
The Humanitarian Demining Center verifies the applications submitted by farmers. It also announces auctions for demining services in the Prozorro system, and after determining the winning operator and the final cost of demining, transfers 80% of the amount to a special account. Another 20% is paid by the farmer, the Ministry of Economy said.
Currently, two state-owned banks, PrivatBank and Oschadbank, are reportedly participating in the program. Over time, other banks with a state share of more than 50% will join the program. Accordingly, a farmer needs to open an account in one of these banks to receive funds, the ministry said.
The mine action operator will receive the entire reserved amount after demining is completed and the Center confirms the work performed.
To apply, please follow the link: https://www.dar.gov.ua/
"A farmer can also receive compensation for already demined agricultural land between February 24, 2022 and April 15, 2024. To do this, he must fill out and submit an application for compensation to the Humanitarian Demining Center compensation@uachd.org.
The application must be attached with an electronic digital signature (EDS) as indicated:
- a copy of the contract with a certified operator for the provision of demining services;
- copies of acts of services rendered confirming demining;
- copies of payments confirming payment for demining services rendered.
Addendum
In the first six months of the year, Ukrainian sappers cleared more than 156,000 hectares of agricultural land and returned it to use. The highest rate of demining is in Kherson Oblast, where 146,000 hectares have been cleared. This is almost 60% of the planned amount for this year. In the first half of the year, 11.3 thousand hectares were cleared of mines in Kharkiv region, and 8.3 thousand in Mykolaiv region.