Kiev. 2nd of March. INTERFAX-UKRAINE – The non-governmental organization League of Defense Enterprises of Ukraine initiates the creation of a committee on defense industry issues at the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry to promote Ukrainian defense products in foreign markets.

The corresponding initiative was approved during the Round Table “Potential of the Ukrainian Defense Industry and Possible Ways of Expanding Military-Technical Cooperation (MTC) with Foreign Countries” held on Thursday in the CCIU.

As the member of the Supervisory Board of the «League of Defense Companies of Ukraine», former Prime Minister and ex-Minister of Defense Yuriy Yekhanurov, the realization of the export potential of enterprises of the private sector of the Ukrainian defense industry should be one of the sources of attracting resources for the creation and organization of serial production of new weapons for the rearmament of the APU in Conditions of limited capabilities of the defense budget.

“The question of the resource is the number one question … There is really little money for the purchase of weapons (in the defense budget -IF),” Yekhanurov stated.

As explained by Deputy Defense Minister Ivan Rusnak, in 2017, the Defense Ministry plans to allocate 18% of its budget for the development of armaments (in the state budget MOU is provided 64.4 billion UAH-IF). Of these funds, about 60% should be spent on the purchase of new and modernized weapons, and about 40% – for repairs, he said.

The process of transferring the APU, emphasized I.Rusnak, is taking place in conditions of the decision of the Ukrainian OPK to accomplish tasks of large-scale import substitution, as well as low level of public-private partnership in the defense industry. At the same time, he said, “enterprises take money not to produce products, but to expand production.”

“They take money in advance, and we are waiting for two years of supply,” he said, adding: “Today, the debtor (military department-IF) is 3 billion UAH, the money is on Ukroboronprom’s accounts.” In this connection, the representative of the state customer stressed: Products need the army “not tomorrow, and even yesterday.”

As noted during the meeting, the newly created committee can assume the functions of coordinating not only the tasks of the military-technical cooperation, but also the issues of ensuring the development of the Ukrainian defense industry, as well as the announced plans to re-equip the Armed Forces in accordance with NATO standards.

In addition to the League of Defense Enterprises of Ukraine, participation in the work of the committee was also confirmed by the state concern Ukroboronprom, as well as representatives of Ukrainian defense science.

Created in late 2016, the non-governmental organization League of Defense Enterprises unites several dozens of private defense companies in Ukraine. The main direction of the work of the League is the participation of its members in the effective and qualitative rearmament of the APU.

According to the League estimates, the potential export volume of Ukrainian defense products, taking into account the capabilities of private defense enterprises, is estimated today at more than $ 3 billion a year. The implementation of the export potential in the League is linked to the speedy liberalization of the current system of military-technical cooperation and arms exports of Ukraine

According to the Ukrainian military department, in 2016 in the structure of executors of the state defense order (GOZ) more than 50% were private defense companies.