Former defence minister Mykhaylo Fedorov is planning to set up a new defence-technology investment fund. On the evening of 30 August, he announced the start of a visit to the United States for meetings with venture funds, entrepreneurs, technology companies, experts and organisations that could become partners in new projects and help strengthen Ukraine, he said in a Facebook post.
According to the former minister, it will not be a classic venture fund. He plans both to attract investment into Ukrainian defence-tech companies and to create such companies around technologies that are critically needed on the battlefield.
The former minister said they initially see three key areas:
- battlefield robotics, to remove people “from the most dangerous sections of the front”
- jet-powered interceptor drones
- low-cost missiles using AI
After talks with potential partners and investors, they plan to form a team and present a transparent model for the fund.
“Our task is to bring in international capital and expertise to create new technologies so that Ukraine defeats the enemy in every subsequent technological cycle,” he said.
Context
Mykhaylo Fedorov lost his post as defence minister in July this year, following the replacement of Prime Minister Yuliya Svyrydenko by Serhii Koretskyi. The resignation, the reasons for which were not communicated, sparked protests in many cities across Ukraine. The mass rallies ultimately led to Oleksandr Syrskyi being dismissed as commander-in-chief and Mykhaylo Drapatyy being appointed in his place.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he had offered Fedorov four different posts, including that of deputy prime minister. However, Fedorov said he would agree only to the post of defence minister, because in other roles he would not be able to fight corruption in procurement and complete the army transformation he had begun.
After the Verkhovna Rada returned from a month-long recess, the president submitted Yevheniy Khmara’s candidacy for defence minister. Khmara had headed the Defence Ministry as acting minister during that month.
Fedorov recorded a video address the same day, saying that the country needed to decide how elections could be held before martial law ends. Following this, the coordinators of the protests that had continued after Fedorov’s resignation announced that they would end.After being appointed minister, Yevhen Khmara said he had offered his predecessor cooperation, but had received no response.
Speaking to journalists in August, Zelenskyy indicated that one of the reasons for replacing the defence minister was the situation that arose during talks with the US president about permission to use Starlink for defensive strikes on Russian territory. The president explained that the defence ministry had signalled that Elon Musk had agreed, but during negotiations with the American leader it became clear that no such agreement existed.