Russia's Emergencies Ministry to take part in demining Croatia's territory

Russia's Emergencies Ministry will take part in demining the territory of Croatia, its chief Sergei Shoigu said in Zagreb on Friday after completing talks with Croatia's Economics Minister Hrvoje Vojkovic, the press-service of the Emergencies Ministry said.

Croatia, Shoigu recalled, is one of the ten most heavily mined countries: 14 of the republic's 21 regions are reported to have about a million planted mines. This is a serious problem for restoring major economic facilities and returning many thousands of refugees, he emphasised.

Shoigu noted that Croatia intends to finance the work of engineers of Russia's Emergencies Ministry by forgiving part of the former USSR's clearing debt to Yugoslavia. Such an approach is being studied at government level.

Preparations for humanitarian demining on the territory of Croatia have been going on since August of last year.