The defense industry of Ukraine will cooperate with Czech companies CZUB and Sellier & Bellot.

Last week, the third meeting of the Czech-Ukrainian Intergovernmental Commission on Defense Industry was held in Prague.

Ukraine was represented by the Deputy Minister of Defense, Volodymyr Havrylov.

The Ukrainian delegation included experts of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and representatives of Ukrainian state enterprises comprising the Ukraine Defense Industry Holding (formerly known as UkrOboronProm). Both parties agreed to deepen mutual cooperation.

The Czech Republic proposed further cooperation in the following six areas:

• Supplies of Czech defense industry products for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine;
• The Czech Government’s support concerning supplies of arms and military equipment from third countries;
• Cooperation in the area of repairs and maintenance of heavy arms and military equipment (main battle tanks, armored vehicles, howitzers, rocket launchers) and repairs and upgrades of air platforms;
• Cooperation in the Czech-Ukrainian defense cluster and its working groups as the basic platform for the realisation of projects;
• Training of repair and maintenance specialist personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine;
• Mine clearing in Ukrainian territory.

At the beginning of July, 2023, the Ministry of Strategic Industries of Ukraine and the Ministry of Defense of the Czech Republic signed a Memorandum on strengthening cooperation in the defense sector.

The document provides support for military-technical cooperation, making joint efforts to support projects for the production of weapons and ammunition and other projects of the defense industry, which are implemented by defense companies in Ukraine and the Czech Republic.

The Intergovernmental Commission session saw memoranda of cooperation signed between the Ukraine Defense Industry and Czech companies CZUB and Sellier & Bellot.

The Czech arms manufacturer CZUB is engaged in the production of small arms and grenade launchers for them.

Sellier & Bellot supplies its customers with ammunition for firearms.

The memoranda have resulted from long-term discussions among the businesses and provide a formal basis for practical cooperation to start.

Both parties also agreed on approximating their defense innovation sectors to identify intersections for cooperation on research and development of new technologies.