While pleading for more foreign investment in Kyiv’s military sector, Ukrainian officials stated on Saturday that their country is prepared to enhance its domestic weapons production but has financial constraints.
While establishing its own armaments manufacturing, Kyiv has primarily relied on supplies from the West and inventories from the Soviet era to defend itself against Russia’s invasion.
“At this juncture, the funding is the limiting factor rather than the production capabilities,” stated Oleksandr Kamyshin, the President’s counsellor for Strategic Affairs, during a Kyiv conference.
“Each production facility tells us: I can do more, all I need is proper funding,” he stated.
He told AFP that although Ukraine could produce $20 billion worth of goods, its own budget could only support $7 billion of that amount.
Rustem Umerov, the minister of defence, stated on the same panel that “we encourage investment in the defence and security sector because it is hard to produce with money and impossible without it.”
Former US General David Petraeus proposed using some of the $300 billion in Russian assets that have been frozen as one of the answers.
Recent advancements in Ukraine’s defence sector include the country’s first successful ballistic missile test and the introduction of Palianytsia, a long-range “rocket drone” built in the country.
