Czech Republic launches second project to purchase ammunition for Ukraine, - Defence Minister Chernokhova
The Czech Republic is preparing to launch a second initiative to supply ammunition to Ukraine. The working title of this project is Initiative 2025.
This was announced by the head of the Czech Defense Ministry, Jana Černohová, Radio Prague International reports, Censor.NET informs.
It is noted that the Initiative 2025 project will cover five arms companies that will produce shells for the needs of Ukraine at the expense of European donors.
"This is a natural extension of the mechanism that is already in place. In addition, the sooner the donors allocate funds, the sooner our companies will sign long-term contracts," said Minister Chernokhova.
According to media reports, the new Czech initiative will involve the following companies: Czechoslovak Group, STV Group, Omnipol with Ompo Holding, Colt CZ Group SE, owned by Česká zbrojovka, and DSS.
Currently, the Czech Ministry of Defense's Interstate Defense Cooperation Office is collecting information from arms companies on what they can supply to Ukraine in 2025.
It is expected that the Czech Republic will once again become an intermediary between donors - European countries and the above-mentioned companies.
Ukraine has already been receiving ammunition under the Czech initiative. The first batch of 50,000 rounds arrived in Ukraine some time ago.
Czech initiative to purchase ammunition for Ukraine
At the Munich Security Conference in February, Czech President Petr Pavel said that his country had found hundreds of thousands of shells for Ukraine, but that the project needed funding. He called on allies to help raise money to buy the weapons. A number of countries responded and contributed to the Czech initiative to purchase shells for the Ukrainian Armed Forces. In total, almost 20 countries have joined Prague's idea.
Earlier it was reported that the Czech Republic has signed a contract for the first 180,000 pieces of artillery ammunition for Ukraine and is working on obtaining another 300,000 pieces.
The partner countries plan to send Ukraine half a million rounds of ammunition by the end of 2024 as part of the Czech initiative.
