Romania and Ukraine plan to jointly manufacture drones with financial support from EU
Romania and Ukraine are discussing the launch of joint drone production under the EU’s SAFE initiative, with funding of up to 200 million euros.
According to Censor.NET, citing Radio Liberty, the Romanian Ministry of Defense announced this on April 1.
Negotiations between officials
According to reports, Romanian Minister of National Defense Radu Miruță met yesterday with Serhii Boiev, Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine for European Integration.
The talks focused on discussing avenues for cooperation between the Romanian and Ukrainian Ministries of Defense in the context of the strategic partnership agreement recently signed by the two countries’ presidents, as well as the implementation of the European Union’s "Secure Action for Europe" (SAFE) initiative.
Direct collaboration in drone manufacturing
"During the meeting, officials discussed the possibility of developing and manufacturing unmanned aerial vehicles in direct cooperation with Ukraine, as well as options for technology transfer," the press service reported.
200 million euros through the SAFE program
According to Miruță, this joint production project will receive 200 million euros through the SAFE program. Bucharest wants the Ministry of Defense to be "a central figure in this cooperation, not just a beneficiary." Consequently, the Romanian government is currently working on forming a team that will focus exclusively on this area.
The minister expects the contract to be signed by the end of May.
"Our country will benefit from Ukraine’s battlefield experience and from having the personnel and infrastructure to produce state-of-the-art equipment when needed. This will also be an advantage for Ukraine, particularly because Romania’s participation in the SAFE project will fund the production of drones," he said in his statement.
The agency announced that meetings between experts and 15 specialized companies, including 15 Ukrainian companies, will continue in the coming days, during which the companies will present their portfolios and capabilities.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense has not yet commented on the negotiations.
As a reminder, on March 12, Romanian President Nicușor Dan stated that Ukraine and Romania would jointly produce drones.
"Today we signed a declaration of strategic partnership. And this is an important milestone in our bilateral relations," he emphasized.
