The Verkhovna Rada explains why it is important to liberalize the export of Ukrainian-made weapons
Kyiv • UNN
MP Halyna Yanchenko emphasizes the need to liberalize Ukrainian arms exports. According to her, this will allow defense companies to make a profit and invest in research and development.
It is critically important to liberalize the export of Ukrainian-made weapons. At least part of what is produced in Ukraine and what the state does not plan to buy in the next six months should be allowed to be exported so that companies can make a profit and invest in development. This was reported by MP and member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Economic Development Halyna Yanchenko to journalists, UNN reports.
We can speak about the time of the full-scale invasion, i.e., in 2.5 years, the production of the Ukrainian defense industry has increased sixfold. If the Verkhovna Rada and the Cabinet of Ministers deregulate at least some of the things that prevent our defense industry from scaling up even more actively, we will have tremendous results
She quoted former Minister of Strategic Industry Kamyshin as saying that today the Ukrainian defense industry can produce $20 billion worth of products annually, while the Ukrainian state is only able to buy $6 billion worth because it has limited spending.
This means that 15 billion can be real exports, and therefore foreign exchange earnings. That is, our defense industry can reach the level of agricultural exports, the level of IT services and be really competitive in the world, especially since the world is closely watching what is happening in Ukraine, including the latest developments in our defense industry. The key issue is access to finance, and here our defense industry is extremely limited. Exports are de facto banned, although there is a great demand for our products. As we have already said, this could be 15 billion in potential exports. For example, the lack of preferential loans hinders this
She noted that the state program “Affordable Loans 5-7-9%”, which is actively advertised for the defense industry, is not available today.
Although it was the defense industry that should have started any soft loan programs. There are also questions about what typical contracts of the Ministry of Defense look like when the profitability is very limited, if we are talking about drones, it is 25%, for other production it is about 5-7%, but at the same time, terrible penalties are imposed on the defense industry campaigns in case of delay, penalties are imposed on advance funds, etc
That is, according to her, the issue of access to finance could have given Ukrainian companies the opportunity to purchase new equipment, invest in innovation, development and promote their products abroad.
De jure, exports are not prohibited, but de facto, literally only a few products have been allowed to be exported, and so this is an issue that needs to be raised in terms of political decisions and political will. This should be done with the Cabinet of Ministers and the State Expert Control Service
In addition, Yanchenko noted that so far Denmark has become the first countryto make a donation to the ZBROYARI: Manufacturing Freedom” project for the purchase of Ukrainian weapons for the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
This is really a drop in the bucket. That's why it's critical to liberalize exports, to allow at least some of what is produced in Ukraine, what the state has not bought and does not plan to buy in the next six months, to be exported, so that our companies have revenue and can invest in development, etc
AddendumAddendum
Prime Minister Shmyhal noted that Ukraine now has a critical need to raise additional funds for defense, for defense capability.
