Formation and development of the humanitarian demining services market in Ukraine

Abstract

Problem setting. Ukraine has suffered widespread landmine contamination as a result of Russian aggression, on a scale comparable to that caused by the Second World War. Consequently, the demand for humanitarian demining services has increased significantly. However, the traditional model of demining carried out by the specialist units of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine and the State Emergency Service of Ukraine could no longer cope with the workload, creating a need for a fully-fledged market for such services with competition from private service providers. None of the examples of contemporary international experience come even close to matching the scale of contamination by landmines and other explosive ordnance in Ukraine. This has spurred the emergence of a new, non-traditional market for humanitarian demining services, as the specialist services, in carrying out the state’s public functions, were no longer able to cope with such a workload. Demand in this case is also not entirely conventional, as it is driven not by private interests but by the public problem of landmines. Analyses of recent researches and publications. A comprehensive study was presented by Academician V. P. Gorbulin at the beginning of the full-scale war. The emergence and developmental stages of service markets have been studied by S. Klepper, M. Gort, K. Simons, and K. Peterdy. C. Baehr, A. BenYishay and other international co-authors (2023) analysed the link between demining and economic development in Afghanistan. R. Schindler, G. Stoppel, T. Connel, analysed the impact of demining Ukrainian agricultural land on food security in 2023. V. Kyrylenko and V. Neroba reviewed equipment commonly used in international practice that has proven effective in various countries in mine action. V. Ustymenko, Y. Rohozian, O. Trehub, Р. Liashenko, D. Zablodska, analysed challenges in the field of humanitarian demining for 2023 and highlighted aspects requiring theoretical consideration and further scientific and practical solutions through the prism of economic and legal approaches to ensuring the comprehensive recovery of Ukrainian territories. The purpose of this article is to research the characteristics of and determine the current stage of development of the humanitarian demining services market in Ukraine by analysing recent developments in the legal regulation of humanitarian demining in Ukraine. Article’s main body. This article focuses on examining the characteristics of the actual formation and legal framework of the specific market for humanitarian demining services, as well as its subsequent development amidst the ongoing hostilities in Ukraine. It examines how this market began to form spontaneously and how legal regulation has evolved to establish civilised rules and standards for the provision of humanitarian demining services. It is precisely these services that have proved critical for restoring access to and the safe use of agricultural land, which is the primary priority of humanitarian demining. Conclusions and prospects for the development. Based on a variety of indicators, it can be concluded that the market for humanitarian demining services emerged following the entry into force of Ukraine’s special Law ‘On Mine Action in Ukraine’ (although actual demand arose as early as 2014, with the first non-state (international) operators entering Ukraine in 2015), and if we look even more closely – in 2021, when the first Ukrainian private mine action operators not only obtained certificates for certain types of mine action but also carried out their first clearance operations. However, the real take-off, the second phase of market growth, came after 2023, when the number of private operators increased significantly, full-fledged competition emerged with the formation of market prices for equivalent services thanks to the launch of auction procedures via Prozorro, and official mechanisms for state compensation to farmers for humanitarian demining services were introduced. As an extremely serious problem in its own right, landmining prompted farmers and market operators to be resourceful in their approaches to demining and to improve existing machinery and mechanisms, and following the establishment of civilised rules and standards for mine action, competition among certified operators has led to both product and process innovations at various stages of humanitarian demining. It is possible that this will lead to a shake-out of the market in question in the coming years; however, it is not yet possible to predict this with certainty, as the ongoing hostilities necessitate more rapid adjustments to strategies and the refinement of products in line with current challenges.