Leonid Litra, Senior Research Fellow at the New Europe Center, Visiting Fellow at the ECFR, presented the discussion paper “Defence co-production of Ukraine: from wartime necessity to strategic industry” during the discussion “Arms production investments. Are Western partners ready to strengthen Ukraine’s defense capabilities?” organized by the New Europe Center in partnership with the National Interests Advocacy Network “ANTS” NGO.

The expert outlined the challenges faced by arms producers and developers, examined existing investment opportunities for joint production, and proposed recommendations.

Leonid Litra emphasized the following points:

• Joint production in Ukraine primarily occurs in a “top-down” format, with governments reaching agreements and establishing co-production companies for arms and repairs.
• A key challenge reported by some producers is a lack of funding and complex bureaucratic procedures.
• The SAFE program and other EU initiatives are valuable but lack the speed needed to finance immediate needs within the same year.
• Producers desire greater flexibility, while the state prioritizes tighter control.

Key recommendations included:

• Integrating joint production into the system of security guarantees.
• Simplifying procedures through a single point of contact (“window”).
• Scaling production through controlled exports.
• Implementing effective investment models, particularly the “Danish” and “Dutch” models.

The video recording

in Ukrainian is available here: https://cutt.ly/erXbvdvm

in English is here: https://cutt.ly/4rZcFA41.

Photo-report: https://cutt.ly/wrVgoJig

This event is funded by the UK government as part of the “Mutual Transformative Power: changing Ukraine through cooperation with wider Europe” project, implemented by the New Europe Center. The views expressed during the event are those of the participants and may not coincide with the official position of the UK government.