On 5 November, the Cabinet of Ministers adopted a resolution that will provide Ukrainian arms and military equipment manufacturers with access to a programme of cheap loans.
The government's representative in the Verkhovna Rada, Taras Melnychuk, and the Minister for Strategic Industries of Ukraine, Herman Smetanin, announced this in Telegram.
According to Smetanin, the interest rate for producers will be 5%, with the rest of the interest paid from the budget. The Ministry already has funds to implement the programme - UAH 263.4 million by the end of the year.
The loan amount will be up to UAH 100 million for working capital for up to 3 years, and up to UAH 500 million for investment projects for up to 5 years.
These funds can be used for the development, manufacture, repair, modernisation and disposal of weapons, military and special equipment, ammunition, their components and other military products used to meet the needs of the Defence Forces.
The programme will be available to enterprises that the Ministry of Strategic Industry has already identified as critical to the functioning of the economy during the special period in the defence sector.
"We have been working on this programme for a long time together with many agencies. So I thank everyone who made it possible," the minister added.
According to him, affordable lending will allow manufacturers to produce more weapons and deliver them to the frontline faster, as well as to operate more confidently and scale up production.
According to Melnychuk, state support for enterprises will be provided through the Entrepreneurship Development Fund.