Prime Minister held a meeting on development of mechanical engineering: We must create added value and jobs in Ukraine

On Monday Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman chaired a meeting to tackle issues of support for the production of specialized trucks and equipment in Ukraine.

Participants of the meeting discussed the needs of the state in motor vehicles, main problems arising in the process of their exploitation, as well as the possibility of increasing the production of necessary equipment in Ukraine and its localization.

"We must create added value and jobs in Ukraine. Given that the state has a big demand for machines, I think that our machine engineering should not be outside this process. We should provide strong support for the mechanical engineering. I'm not going to lobby for a particular manufacturer, I am going to lobby for localization. The maximum we are buying today as the state, thereby ensuring the development of our country, should be purchased from a range of products of Ukrainian origin - those products that provide the Ukrainian citizens with workplaces," said the Head of the Government at the beginning of the meeting.

The Prime Minister stressed the need to ensure high localization referring to the purchase of all products necessary for Ukraine. Apart from that, it is vital to guarantee relevant quality, competitive price, warranty service, stable delivery and other services, highlighted Volodymyr Groysman.

"I'm not going to lobby for any manufacturer in Ukraine, I'm going to lobby for the domestic manufacturer. For me it is fundamentally important. If we let currency leakage from Ukraine, undermine the stability of the national currency, we start to feed the economies of other countries - it's not my choice," said the Prime Minister.

According to him, it is crucial to change the model when Ukraine buys products from abroad, thereby remaining a mere supplier of raw materials.

Volodymyr Groysman noted that the country in particular badly needs communal, military equipment, locomotives and carriages for Ukrzaliznytsia.

He noted that for the purchase of equipment by Ukravtodor for cleaning arterial roads in 2017 there are allocated UAH 250 million, the sum worth UAH 600 million is planned for the purchase of firefighting and rescue equipment for the SES. Moreover, the funding worth UAH 500 million was budgeted for the purchase of agricultural machinery.

However, he noted that in the framework of financial decentralization local budgets have relevant resources to purchase necessary equipment.

The Prime Minister also reminded that the Government had established a National Industry Development Committee.

“It is of great magnitude and importance for us to make such a pool to load our enterprise with work. For me localization is topmost”, he said.

On the results of the discussion, the Prime Minister set the task to develop the flow chart containing the needs of government agencies in the purchase of equipment, productive capacities and determining economic benefits from saving of the State budget and creating new jobs.

“Through investing in our equipment, we return [money –ed.] to the budget and reinvest it in the quality of lives of the people”, said Volodymyr Groysman. “My position is statist. I want people having jobs, getting wages, while the economy developing.”

The meeting was attended by First Vice Prime Minister/ Minister of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine Stepan Kubiv, Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Kistion, leadership of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Ministry of Internal Affairs, the State Emergency Service, PJSC Motor Roads of Ukraine, representatives of the National Industry Development Committee, Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, representatives of companies producing equipment.