This year's application process for participation in the program of compensation for the cost of demining of agricultural land has started
Farmers can already apply for demining of agricultural land under the state compensation program. The state budget has allocated one billion hryvnias for this purpose. The application can be submitted through the State Agrarian Register.
“We just opened the application process this year and immediately received the first farmer who applied for the program. This is a farm from Bereznehuvate in Mykolaiv region, which was actively shelled by the Russians. When the Ministry launched the program, we were counting on this very thing: that farmers would see how the mechanism works and would look for an opportunity to apply,” said Deputy Minister of Economy of Ukraine Ihor Bezkaravaynyi.
The farm, which was the first to apply for the program this time, aims to clear 15 sites in Mykolaiv region with a total area of 90.8 hectares.
“Over the four months of last year, the Humanitarian Demining Center processed applications from 195 farmers for demining of agricultural land. We signed agreements with 47 applicants to clear more than 9.5 thousand hectares, and we have already cleared the first site of almost 500 hectares under the program. We expect to significantly increase the amount of land cleared by private operators this year,” said Volodymyr Baida, director of the Humanitarian Demining Center.
At the beginning of the year, the government amended Resolution No. 284 to extend the deadline for farmers to submit applications for the current budget period from November 15 to December 25. Applications submitted by December 5 will be considered in the current budget year. Also, now the farmer must open an escrow account before the auction, which should generally reduce the time from the auction to the actual demining.