Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council considers military-industrial complex reform

“March 6, 2019, the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine considered at its meeting the issue of reforming the military-industrial complex and increasing the transparency of implementing the state defense order,” the Council’s press service reports.

According to NSDC Secretary Oleksandr Turchynov, all the basic needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other military formations amid Russia's armed aggression are met by the Ukrainian military-industrial complex.

 "The domestic military-industrial complex implements the systemic programs for the production of a wide range of weapons and military equipment, in particular, powerful missile systems," Turchynov said.

 He added that the priority of the missile program "is particularly important given Russia's withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, which, above all, poses an additional threat to the security of our country".

The NSDC Secretary underscored that the reform of the security and defense sector, in particular, of such an important component as the military-industrial complex, was one of the priorities.

According to him, the directions of reforming the military-industrial complex were elaborated with the involvement of leading experts from the countries which are strategic partners of Ukraine - members of the North Atlantic Alliance, as well as independent military experts from Ukraine.

 "Taking into account these developments, the NSDC of Ukraine adopted a decision envisaging a set of measures for reforming the military-industrial complex and increasing the transparency of implementing the state defense order as well as priority steps regarding the systematic struggle against any corruption manifestations and the responsibility of top managers irrespective of their rank and position,"  Turchynov noted.

In addition, a number of other issues were considered at the meeting, in particular, increasing the openness and transparency of the military-industrial complex, attracting investment, ensuring the modern level of innovation and the quality of research and developing the domestic defense industry.

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