According to Bloomberg, the venue for discussing the possible production of Ukrainian drones was Tirvi – the hometown of Maido Ruusmann, a member of the Estonian parliament from Riigikogu, which he once led as mayor. The goal of showcasing the Ukrainian reconnaissance drone was to attract investors’ attention and explore the prospects for establishing UAV production in the city.
In Tirvi, the population is shrinking, and the average wage remains one of the lowest in Estonia. The main sectors are agriculture and forestry, and a large employer is a wood-processing factory. Ruusmann aims to revive the city’s economy and is seeking potential tenants for an industrial park worth about 10 million euros, presenting it as an economic development option for Tirvi.
The deputy has visited Ukraine several times: after the start of the full-scale invasion he delivered generators. During a discussion about the city’s development at the Fire Festival in Tirvi, he met Ihor Krynychko – the CEO of the Ukrainian drone manufacturer Skyassist. At the time, Skyassist’s plant had sustained damage from shelling, and Krynychko was considering safe locations outside Ukraine to build a new production.
“We must be the promoters of our city. All local authorities must compete for people and investments. The defense industry and drone production are the industries of the future”
– Maido Ruusmann, Bloomberg
The head of Skyassist’s supervisory board emphasizes that the main obstacle to expanding production abroad is the excessive bureaucracy of European licensing systems:
“Sometimes we see that some requirements of European licensing systems do not fully meet the needs of real combat”
– Head of Skyassist Supervisory Board
Joint production of defense equipment: state of play and plans
Since October 2024, Ukraine has been operating the first of four Rheinmetall plants. Also in November 2024, Finnish defense consortium Summa Defense Ltd accepted the obligation to build in Finland a drone-production plant to meet the needs of Ukraine and the EU.
In November 2025, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that Ukraine, together with the United States, had started joint production of interceptor drones. Earlier, in October, British Defence Secretary John Gilli stated that interceptor drones would be produced jointly within a few weeks. Romania aims to establish on its territory the production of defense drones jointly with Ukraine for itself, NATO, and the EU; Norway and the Netherlands are also being brought in. Kyiv is negotiating joint production with Bulgaria to expand defense cooperation in the region.