Ukraine has increased the number of arms export contracts due to international sanctions against Russia / Photo from capital.ua
During the period from July 2014 to July 2015, Ukroboronprom, a state-owned conglomerate in Ukraine specializing in development, production and sale of arms products, signed export contracts worth $1 billion, which was 17% up on the same period in 2013-2014.
"Implementing the strategy we have selected, we have started with re-building our reputation in international markets, which has been lost fairly for one reason or another.<...> The number of export contracts signed in the first quarter of 2015 doubled against the first quarter of 2014. And this was amid the war," Ukroboronprom Deputy Director General of Foreign Economic Activity Denis Gurak at a press conference on the results of the performance of Ukroboronprom's new management.
According to Gurak, Ukraine has managed to increase the number of arms export contracts due to international sanctions against the Russian Federation.
He also noted that exports of arms are in line with the Ukrainian president's strategy for strengthening Ukraine's position as a world arms exporter.
At the same time, Gurak noted that Ukroboronprom had significantly boosted imports of weapons to Ukraine during this year, having established cooperation with 312 new suppliers and signed 37 new contracts on arms supplies.
"With regard to meeting domestic needs, we were first to develop an arms import system in Ukraine. This hasn't been done before us," Gurak said.
As UNIAN reported earlier, following military aggression by the Russian Federation in 2014, the Ukrainian government announced the termination of all arms exports.
But, despite statements by the authorities to ban the sales of weapons that have been desperately needed in the Anti-Terrorist Operation zone in eastern Ukraine, exports of arms from Ukraine have never completely stopped.
In particular, at the end of 2014, former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko informed the Security Service of Ukraine that during the military conflict in eastern Ukraine, the country had exported 35,900 AKM assault rifles, 1,200 grenade launchers, almost 5,000 aircraft missiles, 60 Fagot anti-tank missiles, 10 APCs, 23 Reys UAVs, 10,000 helmets and two Mi-8 helicopters. Also, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) reported that Ukraine sold weapons worth $664 million in 2014.
According to SIPRI, Ukraine has earned nearly $10.5 billion on military exports throughout the history of its independence.
In early 2015, Ukroboronprom's management said that Ukraine should maintain leading arms exporter status despite the difficult economic situation and the ongoing war. The government supported this decision. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said in May that Ukraine should become one of the world's top five arms exporters in the near future.
According to the State Service of Export Control of Ukraine, the country exported 23 tanks, 28 APCs, six combat aircrafts, one Bizon assault ship, 18 missile launchers, as well as over 27,000 items of fire arms in 2014.
UNIAN's memo. State-run conglomerate Ukroboronprom was established in 2010 to ensure effective operations and management of state-owned business entities that develop, manufacture, sell, repair, modernize and scrap weapons, military and special equipment and ammunition, and participate in the military-technical cooperation.