News
21.12.2023

How to become a mine action operator in Ukraine? Instructions for business

Contamination of the territories of Ukraine with explosive objects is a challenge that our state should respond to today. The primary task is to increase the number of mine action operators who will be able to clear them. The government is determined to stimulate the development of this market.

To make the algorithm for opening such a business clear and convenient for future operators, the BRDO team together with the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine prepared step-by-step instructions for the state info service #StartBusinessChallenge.

“Ukraine and the whole world are facing unprecedented challenges. Now we need to use non-standard and asymmetric actions both on the battlefield and in our liberated, de-occupied territories. To speed up demining, we rely on several tools that no one has used anywhere before us. One such tool is market creation. Clear and protected relations between the participants of such a market will speed up the process of humanitarian demining and protect the interests of both parties. Our task is to write such rules,” emphasised Ihor Bezkaravainyi, Deputy Minister of Economy of Ukraine.

What permits are required and what procedures do you need to go through to register the business “Operator of Mine Action in Ukraine”?

Details here: https://sbc.regulation.gov.ua/startup/261?city=all.

Why is this important?

According to the data of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, as of February 17, 2023, the total area of the territories of Ukraine that may be contaminated by explosive objects (EXP) as a result of the military aggression of the Russian Federation is about 174,000 km2. Every day of delay in demining results in injuries and deaths of civilians.

The capacity of the existing mine action operators is not comparable to the scale of the current challenges. The demand is increasing, but not the supply: for 2021, 4 operators were certified, for the next 1.5 years of full-scale war – only 18. Currently, the total number of mine action operators is 23.

Currently, the opening of a mine action operator is a complex procedure that has differences in different certification bodies. In order to simplify business life, the abovementioned instruction was developed, which describes in detail all the stages and necessary documents for obtaining a mine action operator certificate.

In the future, the Government, together with the BRDO, plans to unify and simplify the procedure for the certification of mine action operators.

In addition, existing problems in the field of mine action and blocks for the development of the market of mine action operators in Ukraine will be considered at the meetings of the IWG on deregulation, in order to make a decision on their settlement. Follow the news on the website: https://deregulation.me.gov.ua/.

BRDO joined the work of the IWG within the EU4busines: SME Policies and Institutions Support (SMEPIS) project, implemented by Ecorys in a consortium with GIZ, BRDO and Civitta.