Defense City is stalling: Ukraine risks losing billions in arms exports
9 April 10:28
Despite high expectations, the special “Defense City” regime has not yet yielded any tangible economic results. The main reason is the slow pace of arms exports, which is hindering the development of the defense industry and preventing the generation of additional revenue for the budget.
This was stated in an interview with the YouTube channel "Komersant Ukrainian" by Danylo Getmantsev, a member of the Ukrainian Parliament and chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Tax, and Customs Policy.
“It is still too early to say that the program has failed—it has actually been in effect for only three months. But yes, we see that the number of participants is low—less than one percent of all defense industry manufacturers,” he noted.
The key problem, he said, lies in the complexity and slowness of the procedures for approving arms exports, despite the fact that this process has been formally simplified.
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“We gave the government the opportunity to simplify arms exports, and formally, this was done. But in practice, the procedure remains complicated. The interagency commission responsible for issuing arms export permits is extremely slow. They do not respond to market demands; they do not ensure an increase in arms exports,” the deputy explained.
He emphasized that arms exports could be a driver of industry growth and a source of significant budget revenue, but this potential is currently being effectively blocked.
“We may miss a historic opportunity to capture a significant share of the international arms market. To do this, we need to work much faster and more efficiently on exports,” Getmantsev emphasized.
Ultimately, he said, Defense City has all the prerequisites to become a powerful economic tool, but without further simplification and acceleration of the procedural process, it risks remaining merely a formal initiative with no tangible impact on the economy.
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