If we don’t give defense industry enterprises opportunities to export, they will all go abroad, - Belbas
If barriers to the export of weapons abroad are removed, nothing dramatic will happen in Ukraine in terms of supplying the army.
This was stated in an interview with Business.Censor by Vladislav Belbas, CEO of Ukrainian Armored Vehicles.
What is known?
"One of Ukraine's biggest problems is that we do not allow exports, but at the same time, manufacturers already have duplicate production facilities abroad, have long since transferred their documentation there, and are expanding their production," he believes.
According to Belbas, the state prohibits this, as it constitutes illegal transfer of technology.
"And if we don't give these companies the opportunity to export, they will all leave. And when they try how much easier it is to work abroad than here, they will never want to come back. Because it really is easier to work abroad, objectively easier," explained the CEO of Ukrainian Armored Vehicles.
Belbas believes that there is no vacuum in the market.
"If we remove barriers to exports, nothing dramatic will happen in Ukraine in terms of supplying the army," he added.
Read the full text of the interview with the CEO of Ukrainian Armored Vehicles for Business.Censor at the link.
More about arms exports
- It should be recalled that after the start of the full-scale Russian invasion in 2022, Ukraine banned the export of military goods in an effort to provide the army with everything it needed. However, in 2024, Ukraine allowed for the possibility of lifting this ban.
- In the summer, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that Ukrainian weapons could be exported in a controlled manner in the form of production lines abroad.
- In November, the head of state announced that Ukraine would open two representative offices for arms exports — in Berlin and Copenhagen — and was preparing an agreement on the sale of US drones, known as the Drone Deal.
- Zelenskyy instructed to achieve a figure of over 50% of Ukrainian-made weapons in the defense of our state.
