The Deputy Minister for Strategic Industries Serhiy Boyev, Minister of Defence of Ukraine Rustem Umerov and the Minister of Defence of the Kingdom of the Netherlands Kajsa Ollongren signed a Statement of Intent that put on paper the intentions of Ukraine and the Netherlands to create an effective mechanism for financial support for Ukrainian arms manufacturers.

The signing of the statement is aimed at strengthening the production potential of the Ukrainian defence industry and ensuring the supply of the most effective weapons to the Security and Defence Forces of Ukraine with the support of the Netherlands.

The signing of this document was preceded by a week-long visit to Ukraine by Dutch Minister of Defence Kajsa Ollongren, who announced the allocation of EUR 60 million for drones for Ukraine. In particular, this includes EUR 20 million for the purchase of FPV drones as part of an international drone coalition, EUR 22.5 million for the purchase of drones manufactured by the Dutch defence industry, and EUR 17.5 million for the purchase of Ukrainian-made maritime drones.

"Drones have become game changers in this war. Therefore, it is important for us to attract as many resources as possible to manufacture and supply them to the Ukrainian army. Ukraine's defence industry has significant capacities that exceed the procurement capacity of the state budget. That is why the support of our partners in the form of additional contracts is so important to us. We are grateful to the Kingdom of the Netherlands for providing this support," said Deputy Minister for Strategic Industries Sergiy Boyev.

It is worth emphasising that the allocation of funds by the Netherlands for the purchase of Ukrainian drones is a significant contribution to the ZBROYARI: Manufacturing Freedom initiative. This is a global fundraising campaign, a strategic collection among partner countries. Its goal is to raise USD 10 billion for the production of Ukrainian weapons in 2024. Ukraine has already received three donors as part of the project: in addition to the Netherlands, Denmark has allocated USD 28.5 million and Canada has allocated USD 2.1 million.

We expect similar decisions from other partners. For example, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said that the United States would provide Ukraine with a USD 2 billion aid package. These funds should be used, among other things, to invest in Ukraine's defence industry.

EU High Representative Josep Borrell at the Defence Industrial Base Conference DFNC1: US Edition, held in Brussels, called on EU countries to purchase weapons for Ukraine from Ukrainian defence companies in order to transfer them to the Security and Defence Forces as soon as possible.