Foreign partners promised to allocate $675 million to Kyiv for weapons production in Ukraine
Denmark, Canada and the Netherlands are the first donor-investors
Foreign partners have so far pledged to invest about $675 million in the Ukrainian defence industry to arm the Armed Forces, Ukrayinska Pravda reported on 11 July, citing data from the Ministry of Strategic Industries.
Kyiv has been trying to persuade allied countries to donate weapons to the Ukrainian army through direct purchases from Ukrainian companies, as Kyiv's defence budget does not match the capacity of domestic arms production.
Although the current pledged amount is still far from the $10bn benchmark presented by Minister of Strategic Industries Oleksandr Kamyshyn in May, it shows that the initiative is actively developing.
Ukraine had previously outlined a target of $10bn of investment from foreign partners as part of a campaign called "Arms Manufacturers: Freedom to Manufacture".
Denmark was the first country to conclude such an agreement with Ukraine, signing an agreement under a specialised mechanism in June. Copenhagen's commitments totalled $198.5 million, covering, among other things, the recently announced 18 Ukrainian Bohdan howitzers.
Canada became the second investor donor, allocating $2.1 million for the purchase of Ukrainian drones. The Netherlands also joined the initiative, pledging €17.5 million for maritime drones and €20 million for FPV drones.
The biggest achievement of the initiative should be the €400 million from the EU, which is expected to be allocated as part of a €1.4 billion tranche from the proceeds of frozen Russian assets.
The exact mechanism and other details of the EU's commitment remain unclear, Ukrayinska Pravda reports.
There are also attempts to involve countries such as the UK, the US and Germany in this process. This is more difficult, as all of these countries have their own well-developed arms industries.
Kyiv hopes to present its products as a cheaper but high-quality alternative to convince indecisive buyers.
Ukraine is also expanding defence cooperation with Western partners on other levels. The German company Rheinmetall recently opened its first armoured vehicle production plant in Ukraine, and plans to open more in the near future.
Background. Ukroboronprom and the US-based Northrop Grumman have reportedly signed an agreement to produce NATO-standard ammunition.
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