Ukrainian minister dismisses reliance on agricultural exports, pushes for arms trade
After the war, weapons will become Ukraine's main export product, Minister of Strategic Industries Alexander Kamyshin said at the Kyiv International Economic Forum on Thursday.
"For 20 years, we built an agrarian country, followed the path of Europe's breadbasket. Unfortunately, the whole world has shown us that this model cannot be long-term, sustainable. We are forced by the war to build a defense and industrial complex, but this is also an opportunity for us as a country to become the arsenal of the free world," the minister stated.
Kamyshin believes that the prospects of this industry are demonstrated by the production of drones.
"Most of what flies outside Ukraine is produced in Ukraine. Most of what flies on the front line is produced in Ukraine. And in the next six months, you will see a multiple monthly increase in domestic production," he said.
The official added that there will be tangible results in other areas as well.
"We are silent about this and will remain silent. But more and more domestic production is appearing at the front. Believe me, it will become the main export product of Ukraine," Kamyshin said.
He believes that even civilian business can replace the contracts lost due to war by switching to military production.
"A simple example. Cases for artillery and mortar rounds. Six months ago, for example, we had two suppliers for the 82mm mortar round. Today there are more than 20. This means that 18 more companies found the opportunity to switch their foundry production to produce such cases. It’s the same in many other areas," he said.
The Cabinet of Ministers proposed to the Verkhovna Rada to increase the financing of the defense-industrial complex in 2024 – almost to UAH 55.8 billion ($1.53 billion).
At the end of June, Ukraine created JSC Ukrainian Defense Industry to replace the Ukroboronprom concern.
