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Yuliia Svyrydenko discusses cooperation in humanitarian de-mining with representatives of French land and airland defense and security industry association
Ministry of Economy of Ukraine,
09 November 2023 11:23
https://www.kmu.gov.ua/en/news/yuliia-svyrydenko-obhovoryla-z-predstavnykamy-frantsuzkoi-asotsiatsii-pidpryiemstv-sukhoputnoi-oborony-ta-bezpeky-spivpratsiu-v-sferi-humrozminuvannia

Ukraine will maximise cooperation between French and Ukrainian companies working in the field of humanitarian de-mining, in particular the localization of production of Western models of machinery and equipment. French companies, in turn, are interested and ready for such cooperation. This was discussed during a meeting of the delegation of the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine led by First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of Ukraine Yuliia Svyrydenko with representatives of member companies of the French land and airland defense and security industry association (GICAT) in Paris.

“Today, Ukraine is the most potentially mined country in the world. Approximately one third of our territory is considered potentially explosive. We have set ourselves the goal of bringing up to 80% of this land back into economic use within 10 years. This is an ambitious target. But it is achievable. With the help of our international partners, we will do everything we can to achieve this goal by introducing new de-mining approaches and technologies. Today, we already have a solid basis for developing cooperation between French and Ukrainian manufacturers of mine clearance equipment and machinery. The Government of Ukraine will do its utmost to ensure that this cooperation is strengthened, and in particular that the production of modern French de-mining equipment is localized in Ukraine,” said Yuliia Svyrydenko.

In turn, the representatives of the French association confirmed their great interest in such cooperation.

As it was noted during the meeting, GICAT has set up working groups in various fields to facilitate the establishment and strengthening of contacts between French and Ukrainian companies, the rapid resolution of problems, etc. In particular, such a group has been set up for humanitarian de-mining in order to unite the efforts of all French companies working in this field in order to accelerate the de-mining of Ukrainian territory.

As of today, the French manufacturer CEFA is ready to supply 8 SDZ (Zone De-mining System) vehicles to Ukraine. In addition, CEFA and one of the Ukrainian manufacturers are negotiating the joint production of spare parts for SDZ implements. It was noted during the meeting that the French company is interested in increasing the localization of production to the manufacture of the entire implement and its assembly in Ukraine.

“We do not need any additional motivation. We are highly motivated to help Ukraine,” said Jean-Marc Duquesne, GICAT’s General Delegate, during the meeting.

First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of Ukraine Yuliia Svyrydenko and representatives of GICAT member companies also discussed new areas of cooperation. In particular, it was noted during the meeting that French manufacturers produce modern robotic underwater de-mining systems with high efficiency. French companies are ready to supply such systems to Ukraine.