G7 countries yesterday welcomed a Ukrainian Parliament vote on Tuesday to reform state-owned defense enterprises grouped under “Ukroboronprom.”
The reform move is driven by Ukraine’s desire to join NATO. The U.S. has insisted on defense industry reforms as one of the measures that would facilitate Ukraine’s entry into NATO and into its arms supply chain.
On July 13, the ‘Verkhovna Rada’ of Ukraine voted on a bill for the transformation of state-owned defense companies into individual defense-industrial companies – accountable to the state, open to investors and projected for partners, a press statement by Ukroboronprom said.
In general, the vertically integrated management model will strengthen Ukraine’s defense capabilities by structurally resetting 118 separate enterprises of Ukroboronprom, 21 of which are located in the territories temporarily occupied by Russia, the statement said. As per the bill, state-owned defense enterprises will be converted into companies grouped into research and production associations on a sectoral basis: armored vehicles, radar systems, high-precision weapons and ammunition, marine systems, aircraft repairs and special exporters.
The Ukroboronprom Concern itself will also be transformed into a joint-stock company, 100% of which will be owned by the state, and will act as a corporate center (holding company), and thus take the lead in all organizational transformations of participating companies, and subsequently in attracting