Over 200 Ukrainian companies start developing drones this year – PM Shmyhal

Ukraine works on strengthening its own defense capabilities and recovery.

Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said this during an hour of questions to the Government in the Verkhovna Rada, Ukrinform reports.

“Approaches to the development of the Ukrainian defense industry have been radically changed. A new company has been created on the basis of Ukroboronprom in line with modern corporate management standards. The path of a drone from development to procurement is now as short as possible. Drone production has grown 100 times over the past year. More than 200 Ukrainian companies have started developing drones," Shmyhal said.

According to him, the government focuses on the implementation of the rapid recovery program. In 2023, UAH 62.3 billion was allocated from the Fund for Elimination of the Consequences of Armed Aggression for various recovery programs. In particular, the eRecovery program is being actively implemented.

In addition, payments for home repairs have been approved for 16,000 Ukrainian families, and housing certificates are being implemented for those whose homes have been completely destroyed.

"We are launching a market for humanitarian demining services. The state will fully or partially compensate the costs. In the state budget for 2024, UAH 2 billion is foreseen for humanitarian demining," Shmyhal said.

As reported by Ukrinform, the government allocated UAH 40 billion in the draft state budget for programs to support economic recovery and help Ukrainian businesses.