The gap between the capacity of Ukrainian defense companies and the state’s financial capabilities currently amounts to €20 billion — and this lack of funding is the main obstacle to further growth of the sector.
This was stated by Vladyslav Belbas, a member of the NAUDI Presidium and CEO of Ukrainian Armor.
“We are not asking whether we can scale up production. We are ready to do it today. All we need is direct funding,” Belbas emphasized.
According to him, the key task for both the government and businesses is to attract international financial support and investment in manufacturing. This would significantly increase the volume of weapons produced for Ukraine’s Defense Forces — and potentially for European armies as well.
“Ukraine has been fighting a grueling war for four years now, while some European companies are still debating how to increase production by 20–30%. Scaling up is not our problem — we’re ready to produce more right now. We have the capacity and the expertise. That’s why bringing in European financial resources, combining our production capabilities with European capital, and directly funding domestic manufacturers will enable a ramp-up in the production of weapons and military equipment for Ukraine’s Defense Forces — and possibly for Europe’s as well,” Belbas stressed.
He also highlighted the importance of using frozen Russian assets as one of the sources to support Ukraine’s defense industry. In his view, raising €20 billion is entirely achievable if the international community focuses its diplomatic and political efforts and builds effective cooperation between the government and private manufacturers.
