There was a delay in funding the Czech initiative to procure ammunition for Ukraine, but contributions from participating states have resumed, Oleksandr Plachinta, a senior officer in the Procurement Policy Department of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence, told LB.ua.
“These countries have not withdrawn. There was a delay linked to the change of government in the Czech Republic, but once the new government confirmed its support for the Czech initiative, contributions from partner states resumed,” said Plachinta.
He added that the current volume is not the same as last year’s, “but we expected this”.
The Ministry of Defence representative noted that the Czech initiative was established and operates as a mechanism for meeting the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ short-term demand for artillery ammunition.
“In other words, the Czech Ministry of Defence acts as the procurer and supplier of artillery ammunition to Ukraine, and only it knows where the ammunition is sourced from,” added Plachinta.
At the same time, he recalled that the Defence Procurement Agency had recently completed a tender for the procurement of 155 mm extended-range artillery ammunition.
“This was the first tender in the history of the Defence Procurement Agency for this type of product. It was a success: we managed to secure a price reduction, and I believe that, going forward, we will increasingly rely on tender procedures for ammunition procurement,” added the senior officer from the Ministry of Defence’s Procurement Policy Department.
- In May, Czech President Petr Pavel stated in an interview with the Financial Times that the number of countries funding the Czech initiative to procure shells for the Ukrainian Armed Forces had halved, from 18 to 9.
- On 9 June, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius announced that Germany would allocate €300 million as part of the Czech initiative to supply ammunition to Ukraine. The funds are expected to be used to purchase around 50,000 rounds of ammunition for the Ukrainian Armed Forces.