Key points of speech by Lesia Ogryzko, Director of Sahaidachnyi Security Center

Lesia Ogryzko, Board Member at Rise Ukraine, Director of Sahaidachnyi Security Center, during the discussion “Arms production investments. Are Western partners ready to strengthen Ukraine’s defense capabilities?” emphasized the challenges both in international cooperation and in domestic processes within the field of arms production. The event was organized by the New Europe Center in partnership with the National Interests Advocacy Network “ANTS” NGO.

During the discussion, the speaker highlighted that:

there is a divergence in the perception of modern warfare between Ukraine and its partners. Therefore, it is necessary to reach an understanding of what type of war we should be preparing for, and accordingly, against which kinds of threats joint production of specific weaponry should be directed;
Ukraine lacks mechanisms to accompany projects from research to finished product, as well as financial instruments to support R&D. For years, significant funds have been spent on research activities without concrete results, which calls for a change in financing models;
Ukraine needs direct investment and “live” money to bring developments to the stage of production, creating potential for international cooperation;
guaranteeing investments and securing production capacities (for example, underground facilities) are considered ways to mitigate military risks;
Ukraine’s “homework” includes addressing issues of intellectual property, financing R&D, export policy, and strengthening institutional capacities;
the concept of “security guarantees” should not be diluted in discussions. A genuine guarantee, is the readiness of partners to directly participate in combat operations together with Ukraine.

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.