Slovenia to transfer EUR 1.5 million to Ukraine for humanitarian demining by late 2023

Slovenia will provide Ukraine with EUR1.5 million on an irrevocable basis for humanitarian demining by the end of 2023, the press service of the Ministry of Economy reported.

"Ukraine is extremely grateful to the Government of Slovenia and the Slovenian people for the tangible support and assistance received from the first day of the Russian aggression. EUR 1.5 million, which Ukraine is incredibly grateful to receive today from the people of Slovenia, will help provide the sappers of the State Emergency Service and the State Special Transport Service with the necessary personal protection, equipment and demining equipment. These funds will help speed up the cleansing of the territory of our country from explosives and will save the lives and health of many Ukrainians," Interfax quotes Yulia Svyrydenko, First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine, Minister of Economy of Ukraine, as saying.

She also thanked Slovenia for participating in the sectoral working group on donor coordination.

As Svyrydenko stressed, Ukraine strives in close cooperation and dialogue with partners to develop long-term solutions and initiate projects that will not only meet urgent needs, but also lay the foundation for long-term cooperation in this area.

According to the Ministry of Economy, the agreement on the allocation of assistance for humanitarian demining in Ljubljana on December 4, 2023, was signed on behalf of the Ukrainian government by Ambassador of Ukraine to the Republic of Slovenia Andriy Taran, on behalf of the Government of Slovenia – Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia Tanja Fajon. The signing ceremony was attended online by Minister of Economy of Ukraine Yulia Svyrydenko and Ambassador of the Republic of Slovenia to Ukraine Tomaž Mencin.

As reported, Ukraine is the most mined country in the world. Almost a third of the country's territory is considered potentially dangerous – about 174,000 square kilometres. The Ukrainian government has announced its intention to return 80% of these territories to economic exploitation within 10 years.