First auction for demining services in Ukraine

Ukraine has successfully held the first pilot auction for the sale of demining services, which included the lands of the Narodytske Specialized Forestry branch of the state enterprise Forests of Ukraine in Zhytomyr region.

According to the information available in the Prozorro system, on September 20, a corresponding contract was signed with the State Enterprise Ukroboronservice, a subsidiary of the state-owned company Ukrspetsexport.

Under this contract, Ukroboronservice was the only bidder, submitting an offer with a price of UAH 550.4 thousand. Since the expected cost of the service was UAH 688.4 thousand, this means that the state saved UAH 133 thousand through this auction.

First Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of Ukraine Yulia Svyrydenko emphasized the importance of developing this area of work. She noted that next year the government plans to actively develop this initiative, as the goal is to return 80% of the territories potentially contaminated by explosive ordnance as a result of the war to economic use within 10 years.

Svyrydenko also noted that the state budget for the next year allocates UAH 2 billion for demining. These funds will be used to support agricultural enterprises that will purchase demining services through an auction.

The Ministry of Economy of Ukraine is currently working on developing the necessary regulatory framework. The Ministry also plans to hold an auction for the sale of agricultural land demining services in the near future.

It is noted that next year the state plans to introduce mechanisms to support farmers who will purchase demining services for their land through auctions. Thus, the Ukrainian state is taking measures to improve security and clear the territories contaminated by military events from dangerous objects.