The Defense Procurement Agency has signed the first direct contract with a Swedish manufacturer. This will allow for the improvement of the supply to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
This was reported by the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine during the visit of the Swedish Minister of Defense, Paul Johnson, to Ukraine.
"Cooperation with foreign partners is a priority for the Ministry of Defense, which will enable us to improve the supply to the Armed Forces of Ukraine and strengthen their combat readiness," said Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine, Dmytro Klymenkov.
The contract became possible thanks to the support of the "Swedish Defense Material Administration, FMV" within the framework of the cooperation agreement between FMV and the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, which was signed during the NATO summit in Vilnius in July 2023.
Director of the Defense Procurement Agency, Marina Bezrukova, stated that a journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step, and there are many projects that Ukraine needs to implement in partnership with colleagues from FMV to meet the urgent needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
"But this first step is responsible and important," she noted.
Cooperation with the Swedish Defense Material Administration allows for accelerating the development of our own agency and conducting further procurement based on the best European practices of transparency in the procurement process.
The action plan agreed upon by the parties in early February in Stockholm, in addition to planned contracts, also includes the possibility of joining current Swedish procurement now.
On his part, the Director-General of FMV, Goran Mortensson, emphasized that the experience of our cooperation under this first contract will pave the way for many subsequent contracts in the near future and strengthen the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
