Vladyslav Shvets
Oplot MBT is the latest product of Ukraine’s armored industry / Photo
from UNIAN
Arms exports remain an important source of
income for the Ukrainian defense sector. One of the major export contracts is
this year’s delivery of a final batch of Olot main battle tanks to Thailand.
The deal is worth nearly $250 million.
Ukraine retains its status of one of the world’s TOP
10 arms exporters.
According to the State-owned Ukroboronprom Concern,
over the past few years, the volume of export contracts has increased
significantly. Over the first 9 months of 2016 alone, the amount of the
military equipment supplied abroad grew 20%, worth almost $600 million, while
the total amount of export contracts signed in 2016 was worth more than $1.5
billion.
After the beginning of hostilities in Donbas,
fulfillment of international contracts for the sale of weapons has ceased to
become top priority. The main task for the Ukrainian government was to ensure
combat capability of the Ukrainian forces countering Russia’s military machine.
However, arms contracts are an important element of
the overall income for the national defense industry and the country’s state
budget - a portfolio of international deals provides billions of dollars of
much-needed forex earnings for the national economy.
One of the most important and widely discussed deals
in the package of contracts is the supply of fifty Oplot main battle tanks to
the Kingdom of Thailand. For more than six years, Ukraine has been struggling
to fulfill its obligations.
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