The European Commission, Ukraine's Ministry of Defense, and the governments of France and Finland have launched a new initiative worth €343 million to expand Ukraine's defense industrial base and dual-use technology sector. The agreements were signed during the Ukraine Recovery Conference and are expected to unlock more than €700 million in total investments across Ukraine's defense industry.
According to Ukraine's Ministry of Defense, the package includes EU guarantees and blended finance grants provided under the Ukraine Facility, the European Union's primary investment framework for supporting Ukraine's reconstruction and long-term economic development.
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The initiative is expected to finance production and development across several priority sectors, including unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), counter-drone systems, unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs), aviation technologies, advanced navigation and communications, as well as other strategic industries.
Deputy Minister of Defense for European Integration Sergiy Boyev said the agreements represent another step toward integrating Ukrainian defense manufacturers into Europe's industrial and technological base while creating new opportunities to scale domestic production.
Unlike traditional procurement programs focused on individual weapon systems, the new investment package is intended to strengthen the broader technological ecosystem behind modern defense capabilities. According to Anna Gvozdiar, an adviser to Ukraine's Minister of Defense, the financing will support not only platforms themselves but also the enabling technologies required for their effective employment and protection against hostile unmanned systems.
The €343 million package is expected to mobilize more than €700 million in combined public and private investment, significantly expanding Ukraine's production capacity in key defense sectors.
The agreements also include support for individual Ukrainian defense manufacturers. During the conference, Poland's state-owned Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego (BGK) signed a memorandum of understanding with Ukrainian unmanned systems developer Skyfall to finance an expansion of the company's manufacturing capacity. The investment is intended to help the company meet growing demand while accelerating its integration into Europe's defense industrial base.
The new initiative builds on earlier cooperation between the European Commission and Ukraine's Ministry of Defense. Earlier, the two sides launched a separate €161 million program dedicated to financing innovative and disruptive defense technologies, further expanding European support for Ukraine's rapidly growing defense industry.
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