KYIV, July 1 (Reuters) – Ukrainian arms manufacturers will be \u200bable to export products and components under a new framework that channels \u200ca percentage of revenues into a state defence fund, Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said on Wednesday, as Kyiv seeks to raise funds for its burgeoning weapons industry.<\/p>\n
Ukraine announced it was permitting<\/a> \u200bwartime arms exports in February, but manufacturers have since complained of \u200bregulatory barriers as the government has retained tight control and threshed \u2060out a framework to regulate deals.<\/p>\n Sign up here.<\/a><\/p>\n However, the country also needs funding for \u200bits defence industry, which has swelled since Russia’s 2022 invasion, to further expand \u200bcapacity and invest into research and development.<\/p>\n Svyrydenko, writing in English on X, said the scheme would levy 20% of proceeds from finished defence goods and 30% from components.<\/p>\n She said manufacturers would have \u200bto prove their capability to fulfill Ukrainian defence orders and export contracts \u200bsimultaneously, and restrictions would apply to items placed on a list of critical goods.<\/p>\n “Every export \u200ccontract \u2060must serve one strategic goal: strengthening Ukraine\u2019s defence industrial base and delivering more weapons for our Armed Forces,” Svyrydenko wrote.<\/p>\n The system would operate throughout the period of martial law, which has been in effect in Ukraine since \u200bRussia’s invasion in February \u200b2022.<\/p>\n She said \u2060it would operate under the aegis of bilateral “drone deals” which Ukraine has already struck with some European and Middle Eastern \u200bstates, and is seeking to sign more, including with \u200bthe United \u2060States.<\/p>\n Svyrydenko said Ukrainian technologies will be “transferred without assigning intellectual property rights and will remain subject to controls on their use and re-export.”<\/p>\n She added that more than 50% of \u2060weapons \u200bin battlefield use by Ukraine were domestically produced and that \u200bdefence manufacturers “continue to expand production of drones, electronic warfare systems, ammunition, components and other critical defense \u200btechnologies”.<\/p>\n Reporting by Max Hunder and Ronald Popeski Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab<\/a><\/p>\n
\nEditing by Gareth Jones and Chizu Nomiyama<\/p>\n