This year’s budget revenue will allow to contract the domestic weapons production worth $10 billion, while the government hopes to attract another $10 billion abroad.

The total annual capacity of Ukraine’s rapidly developing weapons manufacturers exceeds $20 billion. At the same time, the Ukrainian government can contact only weapons worth $10 billion in total while 100% of the national budget is already directed to defense, including soldiers’ salaries and basic needs such as fuel, food and uniforms.

Ukraine squeezes every last drop for defense in 2024 budget, Russia still 2.5x more

The gap between the capabilities of Ukrainian arms production companies and the financing available for 2024 amounts to 10 billion dollars. This was stated at the Defense Industry Forum in Brussels by Oleksandr Kamyshin, Minister of Strategic Industries of Ukraine, Radio Liberty reports.

The Minister called on partners to invest in Ukrainian arms production.

“Our main task is to find additional funding for the defense forces in Ukraine. My task is to get this financing for production in Ukraine since we already have these capacities. We have additional non-contracted capacities, and we want them to be financed at the expense of European funds,” said Kamyshin.

The Minister of Strategic Industries added that the government has already contracted domestic weapons worth $6 billion and plans to conclude contracts for an additional $4 billion in 2024.

Denmark and Canada became the first to join the Zbroyari initiative of the Ukrainian government and contributed to the purchase of weapons for the Ukrainian army from Ukrainian manufacturers. Now the government is looking for additional funding that can be directed to different types of weapons, “starting with armored vehicles and ending with systems of unmanned aerial and ground systems.”

Denmark has committed  $28.5 million to Ukraine as part of a new aid package, with funds specifically earmarked for the procurement of weapons produced by Ukrainian manufacturers, while Canada has committed $2.1 million.

The “ZBROYARI: Manufacturing Freedom” campaign aims to raise $10 billion for Ukrainian weapons production this year.

Read also:

• Denmark breaks new ground, funding domestic Ukrainian arms production
• Canada becomes the second country to commit to funding Ukrainian weapons production
• Although Ukraine has resumed domestic production of artillery, supplies from partners will remain crucial — Minister
• Although Ukraine has resumed domestic production of artillery, supplies from partners will remain crucial — Minister