Trust worth $113 million: what the loan for Fire Point backed by a Danish state guarantee means for Ukraine’s defense industry
Kyiv • UNN
Denmark is providing a state guarantee for a $113 million loan to Fire Point. The decision by the country topping Transparency International’s ranking is an important signal of financial confidence in the Ukrainian defense manufacturer.
The state guarantee for a loan of 750 million Danish kroner (approximately $113 million), which the Danish government will provide for the local subsidiary of Ukrainian defense manufacturer Fire Point, is significant not only economically but also reputationally. After all, this concerns a country that has topped the global ranking of countries with the lowest perceived levels of corruption for eight consecutive years, UNN reports.
Details
The 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index, published by Transparency International in February 2026, showed that Denmark remains the least corrupt country in the world according to expert assessments. It ranked first among 182 countries, scoring 89 out of a possible 100 points. The country has held the global lead for eight consecutive years. It was followed by Finland with 88 points and Singapore with 84.
As financier Viktor Halchynskyi explained in a comment to UNN, the state guarantee primarily demonstrates trust in the company, since if it fails to meet its loan obligations, the financial risks will be borne by the state itself.
It is also important that the financing will be provided through the Danish Export and Investment Fund (EIFO), which has strict requirements for screening participants in financial transactions. According to the fund's official anti-corruption policy, before participating in transactions, EIFO checks counterparties for corruption risks and assesses their business integrity. The fund explicitly states that it may participate in a financial transaction only if the results of the bribery-risk assessment are positive.
According to Viktor Halchynskyi, the significance of this step extends far beyond a single loan.
When a company has a guarantee from the government of another country, this can positively influence how banks and other potential creditors assess its risks. Accordingly, in the future, Fire Point may be able to raise financing on more favorable terms, including at lower interest rates
Thus, Copenhagen's decision could potentially open up new opportunities for Ukrainian defense businesses in the European financial market. After all, one country's willingness to assume credit risks could become an additional argument for other countries, banks, and investment institutions considering cooperation with Ukrainian arms manufacturers.
What is Denmark's interest?
At the same time, Denmark also has its own strategic interest in this project. Fire Point is already building a plant on its territory to produce solid rocket propellant, which is a critically important component of modern missile weaponry.
The facility will be located in southern Denmark. Construction officially began in December 2025, and production is scheduled to launch by the end of 2027. Initially, the plant is expected to meet the needs of Ukrainian missile programs, and later it may be able to supply products to other European defense companies as well. In addition, several hundred new jobs are planned to be created in Denmark once production begins.
For Copenhagen, this is an opportunity not only to develop its own defense industry but also to gain access to Ukrainian technologies created and refined under conditions of actual warfare. For the company, locating strategic production outside Ukraine will reduce the risk of it being hit by Russian missiles and drones.
According to the expert, the combination of financial trust and mutual strategic interest makes this decision exceptional.
I would view this decision as a combination of political confidence in Fire Point, Denmark’s strategic interest, and pragmatic calculation. Denmark is helping to create production capacity that could strengthen its own defense capabilities and those of Europe, while Fire Point is gaining access to additional resources for development. If the project is successfully implemented, both sides could benefit
Let us recall
Fire Point’s history as a defense manufacturer began in 2022, after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The team assembled the first prototypes of strike drones in an ordinary garage. Since then, the company has evolved from a small workshop into a large-scale producer of FP-1 and FP-2 long-range drones and Flamingo cruise missiles, as well as a developer of its own FP-7 and FP-9 ballistic missiles.
In just a few years, the Ukrainian manufacturer has gone from a garage workshop to developing high-tech missile weaponry and has become the first Ukrainian defense company to establish its own production facility on the territory of a NATO country.
This example shows how much the role of Ukraine’s defense industry in the world has changed. Ukraine is gradually transforming from a country that depended on supplies of foreign weapons into a state whose own defense developments are of interest to its allies.