Ukraine, EU Ink Defence Industry Cooperation Pact
Ukraine and the European Union have signed a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the defence industry.
The Gaze reports on this with reference to Interfax Ukraine.
The memorandum was signed by Ukraine's Minister of Strategic Industries Herman Smetanin and Secretary General of the Aerospace, Security and Defence Industries Association of Europe (ASD) Yang Pi.
The signing took place on Monday in Brussels as part of the second EU-Ukraine Defence Industry Forum.
The purpose of the memorandum is to jointly promote the common interests of the Ukrainian industry and ASD members. The parties agreed to facilitate cooperation and partnership between Ukrainian defence companies and ASD members, as well as to promote the participation of Ukrainian companies in industrial consortia under relevant EU programmes. These include the European Defence Fund or Horizon Europe.
Danylo Hetmantsev, chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Finance, Taxation and Customs Policy of Ukraine, believes that in order to increase the potential of Ukraine's defence industry, a well-founded and correct decision by the Cabinet of Ministers to allow the export of Ukrainian weapons is needed.
In his opinion, such a government decision will significantly support domestic arms manufacturers. And to support this engine of the Ukrainian economy, "we must create a special legal and tax regime that our defence companies can use.
As The Gaze reported earlier, the European Union has planned to increase its assistance to Ukraine, including the supply of at least 2 million units of ammunition per year.