On 1 October, Kyiv hosted the DFNC2 International Defence Industries Forum. Like last year, it was organised by the Ministry of Strategic Industries, the Ministry of Defence, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. 

This year's Forum was attended by over 750 people from 30 countries. The event brought together 168 foreign and 115 Ukrainian defence companies and associations. In total, approximately 120 B2B meetings were held on the sidelines of the Forum. The event is aimed at bringing together the world's leading defense companies, Ukrainian defense industry enterprises, partner governments, embassies and Ukrainian officials to strengthen the development of Ukraine's defense industry.  

The largest delegations came from Denmark, the United Kingdom, the United States, France, Italy, and the Czech Republic. This demonstrates the high level of interest and support for Ukraine in the international arena. 

The Forum was opened by the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. “Thanks to the defense industry, Ukraine will become one of the key global security contributors and a very strong player in the global arms and defense technology market. Anyone who is with us, who is with Ukraine, I am sure, will win. Nowadays, almost every visit to our partner countries, almost every negotiation with partners, with world leaders, as well as direct communication with defense companies - all this brings Ukraine more investments in the defense sector, new technologies and, accordingly, production capabilities,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

On the sidelines of the forum, the President met with CEOs and top managers of defense companies from partner countries and awarded representatives of foreign defense companies with state awards for their personal contribution to the development of Ukraine's defense industry and the creation of high-tech products under martial law. 

The main topics of the forum were the achievements and challenges of arms production in Ukraine, the creation of new partnerships and the strengthening of existing ones. They also discussed reaching agreements on further prospects for cooperation, both between companies and between the defense industries of the partner countries. 

“I am grateful to all our partners who joined the DFNC2 forum today. The Ukrainian defence industry has significantly increased its capabilities, and this happened largely due to the agreements formed at the same forum a year ago, thanks to the strong support we received from our partners. And today I have seen that this support continues. I believe this is proof that we are on the right path to Victory—developing our own defence industry. Today we have new agreements and partnerships, so we will see even more results in the future,” said Herman Smetanin, Minister of Strategic Industries of Ukraine.

Several important cooperation documents were signed at DFNC2.

The first document was signed even before the official start of the forum — during the visit of the Danish delegation from the Ministry of Defence and the Danish Parliament, led by the Minister of Defence of Denmark, Troels Lund Poulsen, on 29 September. This is a Letter of intent between the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, the Ministry of Strategic Industries of Ukraine and the Ministry of Defense of Denmark on the implementation of financial support for the production of defense products in Ukraine. 

The forum also saw the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Strategic Industries and the DI Defence and Security Industries Association (Denmark). In addition, Ukrainian companies signed a number of documents with foreign firms to develop the production of ammunition, electronic warfare equipment, air and sea drones, and the repair of Western weapons. 

“We have already invested $4 billion in the production of Ukrainian industry, and next year we plan to increase funding. Our priority is to develop domestic drones and long-range weapons, including ballistic missiles. The Ministry of Defense is ready to cooperate with foreign partners through joint ventures to develop the defense industry. We are offering multi-year contracts for the production, delivery, and maintenance of weapons,” said Rustem Umerov, Ukraine's Defence Minister.

The Franco-German company KNDS, which already works with Ukrainian partners, has announced the opening of an office in Kyiv. 

The DFNC2 Forum also hosted a meeting of the Strategic Council of the Alliance of Defence Industries, announced by the President of Ukraine at last year's DFNC1 Forum. The Alliance already has 119 members. The main topic of discussion was the coordination of the Alliance's actions to strengthen the defence industry and expand international cooperation.

“We are grateful to our partners for participating in the extremely important International Defense Industry Forum DFNC2. One of our priorities is to develop the Ukrainian defense industry by strengthening international cooperation and foreign investment in Ukrainian arms production. We will continue this important work together with the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Strategic Industries,” said Andrii Sybiha, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. 

Ukraine continues to build the arsenal of the free world!