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Ukraine's defense industry has big development prospects, provided that a relevant modern state industrial policy is introduced and financing is provided. Ukraine is able to develop domestic defense enterprises and make its own ultramodern defensive and offensive weapon, thus gradually reducing its dependence on imported component parts, President of the Ukrainian League of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (ULIE) Anatoliy Kinakh said during a meeting with the professors and students of the National Pedagogical Dragomanov University.
In response to a question about the future of the domestic defense industry, he said that despite some problems this sphere has significant potential and real achievements, especially in the fields of high accuracy tactical missile weapon, ship building, armored vehicles, communication devices, etc.
According to Kinakh, in spite of the fact that the country is building its defense industry gradually, still there are many risks in the sphere.
"State orders are often made in a chaotic manner. Many weapons and component parts are still bought abroad, although it would be logical to open our own production cycles, thus we could reduce our dependence on foreign market conditions and develop the national defense industry. Our resources are outdated and their upgrade will take some time. In the short run, active cooperation with international partners makes sense, but we also have to think about our future. It is viable only if we protect our national interests," the ULIE president said.
In this context, it is important to elaborate and approve a state program for the reform and development of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Kinakh added. He stressed that the strategic document must be approved as soon as possible and expressed the hope that it would be drawn up soon.
"Some time ago the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine approved measures to improve the country's defense capacity proposed by experts. Among other issues they mentioned that it was necessary to adopt new versions of the Nation Security Strategy, military doctrine, and the state program of reform in the Armed Forces of Ukraine as soon as possible. It was planned to use them as a basis for a special-purpose vehicles and weapon production program. The first two documents were approved with a one-year delay, while the latter have not been elaborated and exist only in the form of concepts," Kinakh said.
These documents could not only guarantee national security, but also give a strong impetus to the restructuring of the domestic defense industry and activate the work of huge industries which could provide hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians with jobs.
The ULIE thinks that the abovementioned steps should be taken as soon as possible also because this process will take a lot of time as long as many defense enterprises have a prolonged manufacturing cycle.
"When it comes to the production of special-purpose vehicles and weapon, specific terms should be taken into account. Conditionally speaking, the way from design to product takes three to five years. And it is important to us to take complex measures that would take into account capacity of Ukraine's defense industry," the ULIE president said.
According to Kinakh, balanced human resources management, which does not depend on the political environment and individual preferences, is also necessary for the development of the country's defense industry. Only experienced experts should be involved in this process, he said.