Ukraine’s Minister for Strategic Industries, Herman Smetanin, says Ukraine has started producing small arms ammunition under a Czech license.
Since 2022, the Czech Republic has provided substantial military aid to Ukraine, including specialized training and equipment, and has supported Ukraine’s NATO and EU aspirations.
His claims came during a meeting attended by Czech President Petr Pavel and Ukraine’s Presidential Advisor on Strategic Issues, Oleksandr Kamyshin, where several key agreements were signed.
These agreements primarily focused on supplying components for the localized production of small arms ammunition and assembling Bren-2 assault rifles.
The cooperation between Ukraine and the Czech Republic on ammunition production was first revealed in April 2023. At that time, President Petr Pavel mentioned that the Czech defense industry had prepared six projects for cooperation with Ukraine, according to Militarnyi.
These projects included ammunition and small arms production, repairs of T-64 and T-72 tanks, and Aero Vodochody’s joint production of F/A-259 aircraft. Sellier & Bellot, a company specializing in small-arms ammunition manufacturing, was among the potential partners for ammunition production.
In July 2023, during a meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission, memorandums were signed between Ukraine’s defense industry and Czech companies, including CZUB, which manufactures firearms, and Sellier & Bellot.
By July 2024, an agreement was signed between Ukroboronservice company and Sellier & Bellot to build a new ammunition factory in Ukraine.
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