Zelenskyy asks West for loans and licenses for weapons production
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy (Vitalii Nosach, RBC-Ukraine)
Ukraine is anticipating that its Western allies, including the United States, will offer favorable loans and contracts to boost weapon production, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for the Associated Press.
According to the news agency, Ukraine is focused on the next phase of war - increasing domestic arms production. While a significant portion of Ukraine's budget is allocated to this, the current production volume is far from enough to turn the tide of the war.
Zelenskyy is now hopeful that Western allies, including the U.S., will extend advantageous loans and contracts to achieve this goal.
"This is the way out," Zelenskyy said, adding that nothing terrifies Russia more than a militarily self-sufficient Ukraine..
During Zelensky's recent meetings with U.S. President Joe Biden, members of Congress, and other high-ranking officials,
he made one urgent appeal: Give Ukraine cheap loans and licenses to manufacture U.S. weaponry.
"Give us these opportunities, and we will build. Whatever effort and time it will take, we will do it, and we will do it very quickly,” he said he told them.
Budget expenditures for weapon production
The Ukrainian state budget for 2024 includes an additional 94.3 billion hryvnias for the production of weapons and drones. Revenues derived from the personal income tax of military personnel will be withdrawn from local budgets and directed to a special fund in the state budget for their targeted use:
- 43.3 billion hryvnias for the production and purchase of maritime drones and UAVs,
- 51 billion hryvnias for the implementation of new technologies in the defense sector and the manufacturing of weapons.
The budget for 2024 is projected to have expenditures totaling 3.355 trillion hryvnias, with 1.6926 trillion hryvnias allocated to the defense sector. This constitutes 22.1% of the GDP.
