Page 11 - UKRRptDec23

September 30, where the government declared Ukraine will become a military production hub.
The country hopes to attract international arms manufacturers and make Ukraine a “large military production hub”, as the government searches for ways to arm itself and break a stalemate that has developed on the battlefield.
Zelenskiy is ready to offer “special conditions” to companies that will produce weapons with Ukraine or on its territory. The event marked a new direction in how to supply Ukraine, with the previous focus being on the delivery of weapons from the West, repair of damaged equipment and military training of Ukrainian soldiers abroad.
Turkey had already promised to set up a Bayraktar TB2 drone factory in Ukraine before the war started and now says it is investing $100mn in three projects in Ukraine, among them the construction of a drone production plant that will be completed in one and a half years.
And leading German weapons maker Rheinmetall has entered into a joint venture with Ukraine’s state-owned counterpart, the Ukraine Defence Industry group (UDI), to build facilities to make and repair weapons, Rheinmetall said on its website on September 29. The strategic co-operation between Rheinmetall and UDI, formerly known as Ukroboronprom, began in May 2023 but now the relationship will deepen.
British arms producer BAE Systems has also announced plans to team up with Ukrainian producers.
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said at the conference that Ukrainian producers had signed about 20 agreements with unidentified foreign partners for joint production, exchange of technology or supply of components to make drones, armoured vehicles and ammunition.
However, none of these production facilities are expected to come online before 2024 at the very earliest.
2.3 Structure of Ukrainian agriculture product exports this year changed: more ot EU, less to Africa
The structure of Ukraine’s agricultural product exports has changed dramatically in the last year with more going to the EU and less to Africa.
Since the outbreak of the full-scale war with Russia Ukraine’s trade dynamics have changed. The share of exports to Europe from January to October 2023 surged to 59%, up from 32% in 2021.
This increase in European exports has been driven by a decrease in supplies to other regions. Specifically, the share of exports to Africa dwindled to 7% from 14%, Asia decreased to 12% from 19%, and Southeast Asia declined to 4% from 13%.
Exports to African and Asian countries during the war primarily relied on seaborne grain corridors established in collaboration with the UN and Turkey, along with the current temporary corridor currently in use. However, seaborne
11 UKRAINE Country Report December 2023 www.intellinews.com