Ukraine, Czech Republic Sign Agreement to set up Defense Cluster

Ukraine’s state-owned Ukroboronprom and the Intergovernmental Agency for Defense Cooperation (AMOS) under the Ministry of Defense of the Czech Republic have agreed to create a joint defense cluster.

This agreement signed on November 9 is in accordance with the agreements reached last week between the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi and the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic Petr Fiala.

The creation of a defense cluster involves the production of military equipment, an increase in the production of ammunition of various calibers (both at existing capacities and at newly created ones in safe places), the development of service hubs for the maintenance and repair of anti-aircraft weapons, as well as cooperation in the field of high technologies, in particular, the creation of joint research centers, Ukroboronprom said in a statement.

To implement these plans, leading Ukrainian and Czech defense enterprises, as well as international financial donors, will be involved.

"The Czech Republic will become a reliable industrial rear for the Ukrainian defense and the entire defense-industrial complex," noted Tomasz Kopechny, Deputy Minister of Defense of the Czech Republic.