Ukraine Presents Military Equipment Samples to Danish MPs and Government Officials
29 April, 2024 The Minister for Strategic Industries together with the Danish delegation, April 29, 2024. Photo credits: Oleksandr Kamyshin Ukrainian Strategic Industries Ministry has demonstrated Ukrainian weapons samples to Danish MPs and government representatives.
According to Oleksandr Kamyshin, Minister of Strategic Industries of Ukraine, Danish partners were shown samples that can be purchased as part of military assistance to Ukraine. The demonstration for Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen, Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen, and Danish MPs was provided by the Ukrainian Minister of Strategic Industries, and the Deputy Minister of Defense, Dmytro Klimenkov. Minister Kamyshin mentioned that the demonstration of Ukrainian defense industry products, including artillery systems and drones, was part of the ZBROYARI: Manufacturing Freedom project.
This project aims to secure foreign investments for procuring Ukrainian weaponry to strengthen the Ukrainian Defense Forces.
Ukrainian 2S22 Bohdana ACS on the Tatra T815 chassis, April 29, 2024. Photo credits: Oleksandr Kamyshin
Denmark became the first country to support a project to purchase Ukrainian weapons worth £28.5 million.
Currently, agreements are moving into the realm of specific documents. "On Saturday they signed the Statement of Intent. This document is the next step to Denmark's purchase of weapons and military equipment for the Armed Forces of Ukraine from Ukrainian manufacturers.
The Danes support not only our army, but also the Ukrainian economy, Ukrainian gunsmiths," Kamyshin wrote. Currently, there's no disclosure from either party regarding the specific weapon samples intended for financing. Previous plans mentioned funding for ammunition, drones, and missile components production.
The presence of the Bohdana ACS presentation may offer insights into potential future collaboration areas. It is known that, for the beginning of cooperation and the signing of the first orders in March, the Minister of Defense of Denmark, Troels Lund Pulsen, visited several Ukrainian defense industry enterprises in Kyiv and assessed their capacities.
ZBROYARI: Manufacturing Freedom
Previously, Oleksandr Kamyshin announced plans to accumulate about £10 billion in 2024 as part of the ZBROYARI: Manufacturing Freedom project. This money should be used to purchase weapons in the framework of military assistance from Ukrainian enterprises.
"The Ukrainian defense industry has accelerated so much that the Ukrainian budget cannot load manufacturers' orders for full. The capacity of the Ukrainian defense industry is about £20 billion. At the same time, Ukraine has only £6 billion for the purchase of weapons.
Roughly speaking, we only have a third of all the machines that are in the country, because there is not enough money to provide orders for the rest. The best way out of this situation is to convince partners who are ready to buy weapons for Ukraine to do it here. Ukrainian gunsmiths are able to produce more weapons - exactly the weapons that our military needs.
Contracts for defense are an important element of economic support for Ukraine. Everyone benefits when [products] are "Made in Ukraine," the minister said.
An unidentified drone with an X-shaped fuselage, April 2024. Photo credits: Andrii Yermak
It's expected that beyond Denmark, other purchasers of Ukrainian military goods will include the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Latvia, who will finance drone acquisitions through the "Drones Coalition."
Ukraine has already managed to attract about £400 million from the UK and Latvia, as well as £213 million from the Netherlands.
Representatives of Ukraine offered partners a form of cooperation on the principle of "50 - 30 - 20," where 50% of the funding will fall on Ukrainian producers.