Today, Ukraine produces so many different weapons that it would have seemed impossible back in 2022. In 2023, weapons production tripled. And in the first 8 months of this year, production has doubled. This was announced by Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal in his address at the International Defense Industries Forum. The event was held on October 1 with the participation of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“Our goal is to build one of the most modern defense industry complexes. The President of Ukraine has clearly formulated our strategic task: “Democracy must be better armed than tyranny”. And this is an absolute priority of our Government,” Denys Shmyhal emphasized.
According to the Prime Minister, the Government has envisaged 65% more funds in the draft state budget for the purchase of weapons and military equipment next year. This is an increase of almost UAH 300 billion, or USD 7 billion.
“The state is not just increasing the budget for arms procurement. We are creating conditions to gain a technological advantage over the enemy. We continue to rely on the private sector. We continue to rely on partnerships with international companies in the development and production of modern weapons,” said Denys Shmyhal.
According to the Prime Minister, Ukraine will produce 1.5 million drones this year thanks to the involvement and support of private companies. The Ukrainian defense-tech cluster Brave1 is increasing grants for defense startups. Developers can now receive up to 8 million as non-refundable funds.
Denys Shmyhal also noted that more than 200 defense-tech companies have joined the special tax regime “Diia.City”. A mechanism for long-term contracts is currently being developed for arms manufacturers.
“We also have clear priorities as to what kind of weapons should be produced. First of all, these are different types of drones, including ground robotic systems. We continue to create a full-fledged missile program, including ballistic missiles. We are expanding domestic production of all types of shells. We have reached very significant production volumes of artillery systems and various armored vehicles. We are investing in the development of electronic warfare equipment,” the Head of Government noted.
According to the Prime Minister, one of the strategic tasks is to increase the long-range capability of Ukrainian weapons, “so that there is no safe place in the European part of russia where the ‘debris’ of our drones and missiles cannot reach.”
The Prime Minister emphasized that Ukraine has reliable support from its partners. Defense companies from all over the world are already entering the Ukrainian market, building production facilities, planning investments and partnerships with our weapons manufacturers.
“In this regard, the initiative when our allies finance the production of Ukrainian weapons is of great importance to us. Our defense industry has extraordinary potential and can produce even more. I would like to emphasize the leadership of Denmark, which plans to invest more than USD 600 million in the Ukrainian defense industry,” the Prime Minister said.
As Denys Shmyhal emphasized, Ukraine is building an arsenal not just for victory, but also for the future security of the whole of Europe and the world.
The Prime Minister thanked all Ukrainian weapons manufacturers, engineers, developers, and entrepreneurs for their work.