Slovak Arms Manufacturers Quadruple Profits Amid War in Ukraine
Slovakia's key defence companies quadrupled their profits last year compared to the previous year. The companies confirmed that their good results were due to the war in Ukraine.
This is reported by EurActiv.
According to an analysis of the profits of these companies, sales of the 17 most important arms companies in Slovakia increased by 51% last year, from €262 million to €396 million.
The profits of these companies grew even more significantly: their total values quadrupled, from €11 million to €49 million. This means that last year's business was much more profitable than ever before.
"The products of the Slovak defence industry have their own quality and their competitiveness on the international market is constantly improving, with the assistance and support of the Slovak Ministry of Defence," said Marian Mayer, the ministry's state secretary.
During his defence tour of 11 EU countries to increase ammunition production, Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton was impressed by the plans of Slovak arms manufacturers
During his visit to the ammunition plant, Breton met with the management of the Slovak MSM Group, one of the leaders in the production of high-performance ammunition.
The facility in Dubnica nad Váhom and other plants of the Slovak manufacturer "have very strong know-how and knowledge to be able to participate in our programme," he added.
"Personally, I was very impressed," Breton said, adding that he saw "a very solid, well-documented plan to dramatically increase production, to double or even triple it."
In their annual reports, several arms companies confirm that their outstanding results were achieved due to the increased interest in arms following Russia's attack on Ukraine.
Ammunition factories like the one in Novaky have been very successful due to the increased demand for ammunition in Ukraine. The same can be said for the state-owned Konštrukta-Defence, which assembles the Slovak Zuzana 2 self-propelled howitzers deployed in Ukraine. It is also the general contractor for the supply of Patria 8x8 vehicles for the Slovak army.
In early June, it became known that Ukraine had signed a contract with Slovakia for the supply of eight Zuzana2 howitzers.
In addition, the Minister of Defence said that the Slovak government could help Ukraine much more in the field of artillery ammunition than before.
Overall, Slovakia has provided military assistance to Ukraine for 10% of its defence budget and is among the top ten countries in the world in this regard. Bratislava was one of the first to provide air defence systems, MiG-29 aircraft, armoured personnel carriers and self-propelled guns.
According to analysts, the biggest risk for the Slovak defence industry is the parliamentary elections to be held in September.
If the Ministry of Defence is headed by a candidate from the relatively pro-Russian parties that are currently leading in opinion polls, they may well change the management of state-owned companies and subsequently stop cooperation with Ukraine altogether.
Earlier, Slovakian President Zuzanna Chaputova said that Russian disinformation is widespread in the country. This is causing polarisation of society and could lead to a reduction in support for Ukraine. She warned that after the parliamentary elections this autumn, if the Smer party wins, the country's foreign policy could become similar to Hungary's.
The Smer party itself acknowledged that Ukrainians "have the right to defend themselves", but at the same time declared their unwillingness to provide military assistance to Ukraine "because there is no military equipment left in Slovakia".
Earlier, The Gaze reported that Ukrainian and Slovak defence companies had agreed to jointly develop a new self-propelled howitzer of NATO 155mm calibre.
The partners in the development of the self-propelled howitzer from the Slovak side are the state-owned Konštrukta Defence company and the Kramatorsk Heavy Machine Tool Plant, which manufactures its own howitzers, from the Ukrainian side.