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"We don't have 700 years to demine Ukraine"

LB.ua further talks about the International Forum of Defense Industries, which gathered 252 companies from more than 30 countries in Kyiv. One of the discussion panels of the Forum was devoted to humanitarian demining.

First Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Economy of Ukraine Yulia Svyridenko told how demining is done and what the state does for it, and representatives of Ukrainian and foreign companies shared plans for the production and supply of special equipment for these processes.

Yuliya Svyridenko, First Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Economy of Ukraine: "We have an ambitious goal - to return 80% of contaminated land to circulation within ten years."

- I am absolutely sure that this is one of the main topics, it will be heard in Ukraine for decades.

Of course, we have an ambitious goal - to return 80% of contaminated land to circulation within the next 10 years, we will actively work on this. 174,000 square kilometers, 30% of Ukraine, is potentially contaminated territory. Today we are the most polluted country in the world.

Photo: video screen

It is clear that this requires other approaches, unprecedented measures in particular. Why does the Ministry of Economy partially coordinate this work? Because, due to the resources available in the country, it will be interesting, I think, to domestic manufacturers of heavy machinery for demining. Currently we have 29 machines. 29. And three thousand sappers.

Some experts say that it will take 700 years to demine Ukraine.

We are not 700 years old, so our tasks are clear. Strengthen the capacity of state institutions, namely the Emergency Services, Transport Services, direct their activities to demining bridges, roads, and homes. And to offer the world and Ukraine such know-how as opening the market for demining agricultural lands. We have already made a pilot when we put the forest plot up for auction. And as a state enterprise, they saved about 100,000 hryvnias on a lot that cost 600,000 hryvnias. It is due to the fact that there are already private operators on the market. Our idea is that there should not be 16 such operators certified, as now, and another 26 in the certification process. They need much more to compete. There are more than two million hectares of potentially mined agricultural land.

In order for these companies to be able to compete at auctions, they must have equipment. Therefore, it is obvious that we are interested in localizing it and buying it domestically. If a year ago, when the invasion began, we knew only about imported analogues, today we can say with confidence that there are Ukrainian companies capable of localizing Croatian DOK-ING, Slovak "Bozena", Danish "Hydrema". And we also started producing certified demining machines in Kharkiv and Kryvyi Rih, which are an order of magnitude cheaper. Yes, they don't look like DOK-ING and "Bozena". But Ukraine, it seems to me, showed itself to be a very innovative and technological state during the war.

Photo: video screen

We believe that we can improve these machines so that there is a real demand for them. Because their price category is different. And the scale of the problem is such that, frankly speaking, at least 100 more units are needed today. Therefore, there will be enough space for all producers.

Our task, the Ministry of Economy, is to develop, along with machines, innovative technologies that will allow for quick and high-quality identification of explosive objects. Today, there is no such technology in the world - we, representatives of the Ukrainian government, can say this with absolute confidence. There is no scanner drone that can see plastic mines more than 20 cm underground. If we can find such a mechanism with the teams of scientists, institutes, and universities, then this will be the technology that we will also export. I am absolutely sure of it.

As I have already said, our task is to return 80% of the land to circulation within 10 years, because the question is not only about the economy. Farmers' losses have already reached 30 billion dollars, and the war is still going on. This is a question of food security, a threat to people's lives and health.

So we have to coordinate the efforts of donors. We are very grateful to all countries that help. These are 40 countries, 250 million have been accumulated. It is necessary to launch domestic production of machines and technologies that will allow speeding up technical and non-technical inspection and direct demining.

Greta Monika Tuchkutje, Deputy Minister of National Defense of the Republic of Lithuania: "Currently, 11 states have expressed their intention to join the demining coalition"

- I would like to note that Ukraine is not alone with this problem: in July, Lithuania initiated the creation of a mine clearance coalition. Ready to help you. We're here to better understand how to do that, and lay out a few ways.

The first is training, another approach is the provision of equipment. It's great that you talk about innovative solutions that are the key to solving current problems. We have to develop these innovative solutions together.

It should be emphasized that eleven states have expressed their intention to join the demining coalition, among them: Iceland, Denmark, Estonia, Italy, France, Portugal, Spain, Poland. This means that the scope of interests is very wide. I think it is necessary to start with trainings, since demining is a long process, long-term commitments, something material, practical should be worked out, so that unity in Ukraine becomes even more demonstrative.

The question is how best to approach it. We need to implement the program and come up with a solution very quickly. Of course, there are opportunities on the territory of the EU, and we have certain ideas on how to attract financing from that side - with the help of existing tools, financing of innovative projects, startups, etc. Everything is in our hands.

Bottom line: You are not alone, we are with you, and together we will do everything we can to help.

Volodymyr Nosov, General Director of PJSC "AvtoKrAZ": "The war will not end as long as its parts remain in our land"

- Kremenchug Automobile Plant is well known in Ukraine, so a few phrases for international partners. AvtoKrAZ is a large industrial complex, the only full-scale manufacturer of heavy automotive equipment in Ukraine. The territory of the enterprise is 130 hectares, 300 thousand square meters under the roof.

Full cycle of production: machining, heat treatment, stamping, painting, assembly, testing. Your training ground.

The company has not worked for the past three years. Almost a year ago, the state seized the company's shares and handed them over to the Ministry of Defense. Now AvtoKrAZ works exclusively for defense needs, speeding up our victory.

We all know what a big problem demining is. Indeed, Ukraine should create its own capacity to produce demining machines.

We understand that manual demining is inefficient and very dangerous, requires highly qualified specialists, and there are not enough of them. Therefore, cars should come to the rescue. Unfortunately, such a technology did not exist in Ukraine until today, but we must create it. For this there must be a great internal need, basic capability, basic technologies and external support. Now in Ukraine, all these factors have converged.

There is a great need, there is a powerful industrial potential of Ukraine that we can use, there is powerful support from the government, from international organizations to direct efforts in the right direction.

And when the Ministry of Strategic Industries took the initiative to engage the Howard Buffett Foundation to use construction machinery for demining needs, we responded.

Today we have a bulldozer that we are converting into a mechanical demining machine. We stopped at the hammer demining system, this is the so-called Flail Technology. We see that a machine designed for special needs (a bulldozer or an excavator) is not suitable for our tasks, it requires deep modernization and modification. We install hydraulic pumps, a remote control system - we completely redo control systems. Innovative ideas arise, we generate them with partners, contractors and move forward.

The company has many capabilities, but we are also involving other Ukrainian companies in order to combine it into a complex, single, effective and reliable solution.

We see that this project can be completed in a few months, it will be a pilot project. The Howard Buffett Foundation helps us both financially and with technical expertise.

Very good relations with customers from the State Emergency Service, Special Transport Service - they provide feedback, voice technical requirements.

Today, Ukraine is developing a single technology for demining, which will involve different means for different cases of demining, because there are different technologies, different machines, and in fact, uniform, so-called standard operating procedures are needed for different situations, for different soils, for different areas of demining.

We fully understand the importance of this issue and know that the war will not end as long as there are parts of it in our land and people are in danger. Therefore, these are the first steps towards freeing our land from these invaders. We expect that it will take about three months to rework the first machine.

This is a complex technical problem, it is necessary to manufacture several nodes and aggregates, there are many technical nuances. This is why the price of cars on the market is so high. That is, it is necessary to gather everything into a single node, and, let's say, these are only the first steps. Other solutions will follow, and they will be more effective.

As for the involvement of other enterprises, we do the mechanical part ourselves. There are contractors: for the hydraulic system and for the remote control system. If we increase production volumes, we will need manufacturers for individual components and aggregates. For example: if you take a KrAZ car, it has 3,200 unique components, 18,000 components in total. For their production, we involve about 200 manufacturers, contractors, and suppliers. 90% of them are Ukrainian. Almost everything can be ordered in Ukraine, except for certain exceptions. Building such a supply chain is a big challenge for automotive manufacturing. Even if we can do something ourselves, but there is an opportunity to get it from the Ukrainian market faster - we will definitely take advantage of the opportunity.

Oleg Averyanov, general director of PC "Pozhmashina" LLC: "It is very important that this technique is used and tested in real combat conditions"

- The "Pozhmashina" company and I personally are the owners of two machine-building enterprises that manufacture fire, emergency and rescue specialized equipment. Over the past six months, we have produced a heavy-duty pyrotechnic vehicle with an armored cabin and an armored body to remove explosive objects from the fields, according to the technical task of the Emergency Situations Service. On a 6x6, 4x4 chassis, with manipulator cranes, with emergency and rescue equipment, pyrotechnic equipment, that is, they are equipped with all sets of explosives, drones, mine detectors, etc. The task of this machine is to arrive, the task of pyrotechnicians is to arrive and deploy their work already in specific areas.

In addition to the fact that I am the owner of machine-building enterprises, I also represent here today the Federation of Employers of Ukraine, which has 8,000 industrial enterprises, including 520 machine-building enterprises, 43 of which produce wheeled machinery. And today we heard a task from the president and the government to create joint enterprises, to manufacture Ukrainian equipment and weapons.

I would like to emphasize the advantages of such cooperation for our Western partners. We all know that thanks to our partners, a lot of various equipment that needs spare parts, maintenance and repairs enters Ukraine. And this is very important, because without spare parts supply chains, technology, no matter how modern it is, is a non-working metal structure. And cooperation in the timely supply of spare parts and service is a very important component of supporting the production of this equipment.

This is the first. Second, we constantly work with customers (Emergency Situations Service, State Service of Special Transport) and study the advantages and disadvantages of various equipment, on the latest models we manufacture, we constantly improve innovations and try to reduce the disadvantages. It is very important that this technique is used and tested in real combat conditions.

Therefore, there are many opportunities for cooperation. The experience of Western partners and our capabilities in service are the synergy that will one hundred percent provide the best equipment with which we will win. We invite Western partners to actively participate in cooperation with Ukrainian companies. We believe in Ukraine and work for victory.

Gordan Pesich, member of the board of the Croatian company DOK-ING: "Our company has already localized 20% of its production in Ukraine and plans to increase this figure."

First of all, thank you for the opportunity to be here with you. Our company has been working in this field for over 30 years. I started work in a similar situation. However, Ukraine's problem with landmines is 18 times greater than what we had in Croatia. Then our task was to solve it - and we started developing technologies. Now we produce machines for demining, which are used in different parts of the world. Experience allowed us to diversify products and adapt them to the needs of consumers. We are also mobilizing international donors and would like to share our experience with Ukraine, hoping that it will be useful.

I don't want to talk about difficulties, I will note that we have a certain movement, we cooperate with other companies. According to the memorandum signed in June with the Ukrainian manufacturer, our company has already localized 20% of production in Ukraine and plans to increase this figure. By the end of the year, we will be able to supply the contracted number of demining machines, provide spare parts for equipment that is already working, and also provide round-the-clock technical support. Our experts can come to Ukraine and communicate directly.

We also teach specialists how to solve problems most effectively, that is, cooperation must continue constantly.

Mines are silent killers that are triggered even after the end of hostilities. I hope our activities will gain momentum.

Thanks and stay safe. Glory to Ukraine!

Source: https://lb.ua/society/2023/10/12/578525_u_nemaie_700_rokiv_rozminuvannya.html

The United States handed over $5.8 million worth of demining machines to Ukraine

The American company Tetra Tech handed over four GCS-100 demining machines with a set of attached equipment, tractors for transporting these machines, JCB excavators and a personnel minibus to the State Special Transport Service (DSTS).

The United States handed over $5.8 million worth of demining machines to Ukraine — photo

This was reported by the press service of the Ministry of Economy.

The total cost of the purchased equipment is more than $5.8 million.

Tetra Tech is the executor of one of the projects of international technical assistance to Ukraine, which is financed by the governments of the USA and Canada.

In addition to machinery and equipment, Tetra Tech is also handing over a set of individual protection for sappers to DSST. DSST specialists, who will work with demining machines, received training at the Tetra Tech school opened in Ukraine.

Part of the equipment purchased by partners was manufactured in Ukraine. In particular, these are personal protective equipment, carriages for transporting demining machines and booking excavators.

The ministry reminds that the USA is a key partner of Ukraine in mine countermeasures. The volume of their financing of projects since the beginning of the full-scale invasion is more than $210 million. These are both already completed projects and those that are yet to be implemented. Most of the funds allocated by the USA are aimed at building Ukraine's potential in mine countermeasures.

On July 16, the State Special Service of Transport surveyed more than 115,000 hectares of territory and destroyed more than 178,000 explosive objects.