Replies

ARTICLE

Japan donates machinery and equipment for deminers in Ukraine
Ministry of Economy of Ukraine
Yuliia Svyrydenko
First Deputy Prime Minister
20 November 2023 18:02
https://www.kmu.gov.ua/en/news/yaponiia-peredala-ukraini-mashyny-ta-obladnannia-dlia-saperiv

Forty pieces of demining machinery and equipment have been donated by Japan to de-mining units working to clear Ukrainian land of mines and unexploded ordnance. The ceremonial handover of the vehicles and equipment took place in Kyiv on 20 November with the participation of Yuliia Svyrydenko, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of Ukraine, Kiyoto Tsuji, State Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, and Ihor Klymenko, Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine.

The ceremony was also attended by Kazuchika Iwata, State Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan, Kuninori Matsuda, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Ukraine, and Volodymyr Demchuk, Acting Head of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine.

The machinery and equipment from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Shabondama Soap Co., Ltd. were handed over to Ukraine by Satoshi Sugimoto, Resident Representative of JICA in Ukraine, and Kuninori Matsuda, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Ukraine.

“Ukraine is extremely grateful for the support and assistance that Japan has provided and continues to provide since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. The current assistance is extremely valuable to us. It will help us to make our land safe more quickly. The donated machinery and equipment will help equip and mobilize at least forty de-mining teams. This will mean dozens, if not hundreds, of lives saved and agricultural land returned to use more quickly,” said Yuliia Svyrydenko, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of Ukraine.

In total, 20 pickup trucks, 20 station wagons and 50 ALIS metal detectors from JICA, as well as 150 containers of fire extinguishing liquid from Shabondama Soap Co., Ltd. were donated to Ukraine.

As a reminder, a number of Japan-initiated or Japan-funded assistance projects for Ukraine have been implemented or are underway. Earlier, the State Emergency Service of Ukraine received 12 rapid response de-mining vehicles purchased by UNICEF with the support of the Government of Japan and 30 trucks as part of the Humanitarian De-mining and Explosive Ordnance Disposal Capacity Development Project.

In 2022-2023, UNDP Ukraine, with the support of the Government of Japan, implemented an international technical assistance project in the field of humanitarian de-mining, under which the State Emergency Service of Ukraine received vehicles for de-mining teams, equipment, gear for de-miners, etc.

Projects to improve humanitarian de-mining equipment are currently being implemented and will continue until 2025. The projects are being implemented under the Grant Agreement for the Program for Emergency Recovery between the Government of Ukraine and the Japan International Cooperation Agency.