Compensation for demining – Director of the Center Volodymyr Baida on the air of the ICTV TV channel
25.04.2025
Even during the difficult winter months, humanitarian demining did not stop. As Volodymyr Baida, director of the Humanitarian Demining Center, noted on the air of the Unified Telemarathon, over 1,300 hectares of agricultural land have already been returned to farmers for use as part of the state program to compensate for the cost of demining.
"The program began to work as actively as possible, despite the fact that winter is not the season for humanitarian demining. But winters, thank God, have been pleasing us in recent years, so we were able not to stop working. Even during the difficult winter months, we got quite good results," Volodymyr Bayda emphasized.
How does the compensation program work?
The demining cost compensation program provides for two main areas:
Compensation for work already completed.
If a farmer has carried out demining at his own expense by April 15, 2024 and has supporting documents, he can submit an application through a special online cabinet in the DAR system, developed by the Center jointly with the Ministry of Agrarian Policy. After verification of documents and a meeting of the Commission under the Ministry of Economy, the state reimburses 80% of the costs.
Financing future work.
In the case when the farmer only plans to demine, the first step is to conduct a non-technical survey (NTS). This allows to officially recognize the land as contaminated or potentially contaminated. After that, the farmer submits documents through the DAR, and the Humanitarian Demining Center checks the application together with the Mine Action Center, the State Service of Ukraine for Geodesy, Cartography and Cadastre, and the State Tax Service of Ukraine (regarding tax debts).
Note that the presence of arrears in payment of land tax or single tax of group IV is allowed, because, as the director of the Center emphasizes, if a farmer cannot cultivate the land, he cannot pay tax on this land.
After successfully passing the verification of the application, the agrarian opens an escrow account - a special bank account from which funds can be used exclusively for demining. The Center's specialists announce an auction in the Prozorro system, where certified mine action operators compete. The winning operator performs the work and only after providing certificates of complete land clearance - receives payment for the work performed.
Transparency, efficiency, security
Through phased verification, bidding on Prozorro, and the use of escrow accounts, the compensation program ensures transparent use of public funds and safety for farmers. The Humanitarian Demining Center continues to work actively to ensure that as many Ukrainian farmers as possible can safely return to work on their land.
🔗 Learn more about the program and how to apply here