GCS were honoured to address the workshop for financial institutions jointly organised by the Independent Association of Banks of Ukraine (NABU) and the International Finance Corporation IFC - International Finance Corporation last week in Kyiv.
Financial solutions for the restoration of mined agricultural lands in Ukraine heard from GCS Senior Business Development Manager Ashley Williams on the Role of Commercial Demining Companies in developing Innovative Technologies and Business Solutions, something Ashley’s decades of experience in explosive threat mitigation qualifies him expertly for.
As well as deepening understanding of humanitarian demining, the workshop highlighted sustainable and responsible practices for agriculture in Ukraine. Speaking after the event, Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Economy Ihor Bezkaravainyi emphasised the wider significance of the discussions: “Financial solutions for the remediation of mined land are more than just about security, they are about economics, partnership and the future…A little more than six months ago, the Ministry of Economy and the Humanitarian Demining Center launched a state program to compensate for the cost of demining agricultural land. Thanks to this, more than 1300 hectares of agricultural land have already been demined.” He continued, “The humanitarian demining market is a $29 billion need according to RDNA4 [United Nations Fourth Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment Report -ed.]. These are investments in equipment, logistics, security and harvest…Safe land is the basis for economic recovery. I thank everyone for their willingness to be part of the solution.”
The workshop was organised by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the The World Bank Group, in partnership with the Independent Association of Banks of Ukraine (NABU), Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD), Global Clearance Solutions (GCS), Agreena and Teravyn Global SA with opening remarks by Ihor Bezkaravainyi, Deputy Minister of Economy of Ukraine, Ruslan Grytsenko, Executive Director of NABU and Kyrylo Mukhomedzyanov, IFC’s Project Lead for Agriculture Capital Market Development in Ukraine.
The Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment Report can be viewed online here: Ukraine - Fourth Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment (RDNA4) : February 2022 - December 2024 (English) | United Nations Development Programme