Ukrainian defense companies will gain access to €300 mln in EU grants — Fedorov

Ukrainian defense companies will be able to receive grant funding from the European Union for research, development of new technologies, and expanding production.

This was reported by Ukraine’s Minister of Defense Mykhailo Fedorov.

Ukraine signed the corresponding agreements with the European Union during the Ukraine — EU Defense Industry Forum.

What is known about EU grant funding

According to Fedorov, together with the European Commissioner for Defence and Space Andrius Kubilius, Ukraine signed two agreements.

They open access for Ukrainian defense companies to research and development (R&D) grants under the European Defence Fund (EDF), as well as to funding for production scale-up under the European Defence Industry Programme (EDIP).

Fedorov noted that this will allow Ukrainian companies to scale up their developments, attract grants, support startups, and implement joint projects with European partners.

Separately, under the EDIP program the Ukraine Support Instrument will operate with a budget of €300 mln.

Of this amount €260 mln will be directed to increasing the production capacities of the Ukrainian defense industry, and another €35.3 mln — to developing innovations through the BraveTech EU USI grant program.

According to the minister, within this program Brave1 will provide grants up to €200k for defense projects with a readiness level of TRL4 and above.

At the same time, grant funding can cover up to 100% of participants’ costs.

Fedorov also said that the next step will be ratification of the signed agreements in the Verkhovna Rada. After that Ukrainian and European companies will be able to fully participate in the new grant programs.

As a reminder, the German defense concern Rheinmetall for the first time delivered to Ukraine artillery ammunition manufactured at the new Werk Niedersachsen plant in the town of Unterluss.

Read also: Fedorov is reforming the Ministry of Defense but faces resistance from generals — Economist