Ukraine is looking for additional financial resources in the European Union to support its own defense industry and expand its non-contractual capabilities. This was announced by Oleksandr Kamyshyn, Minister of Strategic Industries.
"Our main goal is to find additional funds for the procurement of Ukrainian arms manufacturers. We have identified several initiatives that can be implemented. We are efficient and able to produce enough, but we lack funding," he said.
One of the initiatives could be the expansion of the funds of the European Peace Fund to reimburse the costs of the member states that purchase equipment directly in Ukraine and leave it on its territory.
"Secondly, we are considering the possibility of using windfall profits from frozen Russian assets, up to 3 billion euros, and including purchases in Ukraine in this program. Regarding the defense industry of Ukraine, we have created an effective system, and the only thing we need now is funding," Kamyshyn said.
The third initiative will be the inclusion of purchases of Ukrainian manufacturers in the European Defense Industry Program (EDIP).
"We do not seek to compete, we simply do things that work efficiently and economically, and we will complement the European industry. The joint potential will be sufficient to deter any aggressor," Kamyshyn concluded.
It will be recalled that earlier the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted that in order to ensure the country's security and the ability to give a decisive response to any aggression from Russia, it is necessary to strengthen the production of domestic weapons. In this direction, Ukraine has achieved considerable success, including the development of long-range weapons and the start of serial production of drones. Ammunition production volumes have also increased significantly. To coordinate efforts in the field of the defense-industrial complex, the Cabinet of Ministers created the Defense-Industrial Committee, which will involve arms manufacturers, independent experts and specialists.
