The Minister of Strategic Industry of Ukraine Alexander Kamyshin has resigned from his post. The decision was supported by a vote of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on 4 September 2024.

On 21 March 2023, the Verkhovna Rada appointed Oleksandr Kamyshin to the post of Minister. As head of the Ministry of Strategic Industries, he was tasked with rebuilding the agency and transforming it to meet the needs of a country at war. At the time, there was a huge gap between the needs of the armed forces and the actual production capacity of the Ukrainian defence industry.

By 2023, production will have tripled, and by 2024, capacity will have increased sixfold. The Ukrainian defence industry has reached a stage where it can produce more than the state budget can buy - the country has less than half the funding for its existing capabilities.

Today, the Ukrainian defence industry produces various weapons: from armoured vehicles to UAVs, from ammunition to missiles. Armoured vehicles have been repaired. It has started its mass production of the entire range of mortar and artillery ammunition.

Ukraine produces more self-propelled artillery systems than any other country in the free world. The missile programme has made significant progress: cruise missiles, ballistic missiles and drone missiles. Ukraine has developed long-range weapons that can strike critical infrastructure deep behind enemy lines - more than 1,500 km away. All these are entirely Ukrainian developments.

The year 2024 was a breakthrough in defence technology. While in 2023 the main challenge was whether we could produce a sufficient number of drones - and we proved that we could - this year the quality of the drones has also improved: resistance to electronic warfare, communication, homing, and we are actively working on the introduction of artificial intelligence technologies. We have also started to localise drone production by manufacturing components in Ukraine. FPV drones made entirely from Ukrainian components are already in production. The output of robotic platforms for mining, demining, logistics, medical evacuation and combat missions has been expanded.

The joint Ukrainian-American FrankenSAM project, a hybrid air defence system consisting of missiles and launchers that are not intended to be used together, has been launched. It is a fast, effective solution that is already proving its worth, particularly in shooting down chess pieces.

The Iron Range was launched. It's a free service provided by the state to weapons and military equipment manufacturers for fast and affordable testing of prototypes at the design stage. In addition to testing on the range, manufacturers receive feedback from the military and an assessment of the product by a military research institute.

The transformation of Ukroboronprom has begun and continues, and today it is ranked 49th in the world's top 100 defence companies and is the fastest-growing of them all.

Private producers are growing even faster and are more technologically advanced.

Ukraine's defence industry has gained credibility in the international community as a fully-fledged and reliable partner.

This is backed up not only by statements but also by concrete agreements. In particular, a joint venture between Ukroboronprom and Rheinmetall was registered on 18 October 2023, and the first repaired Marder infantry fighting vehicle rolled off the assembly line on 10 June 2024. The company will repair German vehicles used at the front and is preparing to produce new ones - all at German expense.

We have agreements with two American companies on joint production of 155mm ammunition in Ukraine, as well as production licences from the Franco-German KNDS/Nexter and the Norwegian-Finnish Nammo. Ukrainian companies have also signed joint production agreements with Thales, Hexadron, Amentum Services and subsidiaries of the Czech company Colt CZ. BAE Systems is repairing howitzers supplied by the UK to the Ukrainian Armed Forces and is ready to start full production, subject to the availability of contracts.

116 defence companies from 24 countries have joined the Alliance of Defence Industries. DFNC joint international defence industry events are held monthly in different countries.

In July, UDI opened its first overseas office in Washington, DC. UDI representatives will support existing US-Ukraine projects and look for opportunities for new ones: funding and partners.

Recognising the need for additional funding, we launched the ZBROYARI: Manufacturing Freedom initiative. This is a global fundraising campaign, a strategic collection among partner countries. To date, we have raised $671.3 million: in Denmark, the Netherlands, Canada and the EU. We are waiting for the final decision from the US on the allocation of $2 billion from the Defence Enterprise Fund.

Since taking office, Alexander Kamyshin has repeatedly said that defence will become the engine of Ukraine's economic recovery. This is already happening: 1.5% of Ukraine's 5.3% GDP growth in 2023 will come from the defence industry. By 2024, this share will be at least double.

In March, the Ministry of Strategic Industries and Ukroboronprom launched the Veterans Reintegration Centre. The centre helps veterans improve their professional skills, recruits them for current vacancies, provides information support on rehabilitation and treatment, offers legal and psychological assistance, and trains business leaders on how to treat veterans properly. The Ministry of Strategic Industries is also working with the Ministry of Veterans Affairs to involve demobilised soldiers in private business programmes. The defence industry is to become the first choice for veterans.

As of June 2023, in addition to arms production, the Minister of Strategic Industry will oversee the maintenance of shelters in Ukraine. By September 2024, 7,467 works had been completed, including repairs and the construction of shelters from scratch. We also launched the Iron Shelter platform, which contains all the information on the process of shelter rehabilitation in Ukraine: the total number of shelters, the number of shelters rehabilitated in 2023 and 2024, and the number of works planned until the end of the year. The website also contains a handbook with all the methodological recommendations for the repair and construction of shelters.

A chatbot has been created so that people can quickly report a problem with a shelter and the Ministry of Strategic Industries can respond promptly. Since the beginning of the year, the Coordination Centre has also been working to bring the facilities of the Civil Protection Facilities Fund, which are of strategic importance for ensuring the protection of the population, into proper condition.

In general, under the leadership of Alexander Kamyshin, the Ministry of Strategic Industries of Ukraine and Ukroboronprom JSC have resumed their work and established cooperation with the private sector. The volume of arms and military equipment produced has increased, and additional funds have been raised from foreign partners. All these results are the result of the coordinated work of the Ministry's team, as well as various agencies and organisations.

"I am grateful to everyone who has contributed to this work. We have done a good job and we have good results, but in global terms, we have only laid the foundation. But it is a solid one. The new team has something to work with and something new to create. I am grateful for the support and trust of the President of Ukraine, the Prime Minister, the Government, the Parliament, industry representatives and international partners. I ask you to support the new Minister who will be appointed by the Verkhovna Rada. Ukraine is transforming itself from the breadbasket of Europe to the arsenal of the free world, and I am proud to be part of this very difficult but extremely important process. And irreversible. Everything will be fine" - Alexander Kamyshin, Minister of Strategic Industry of Ukraine (March 2023 - September 2024).