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 aims to bring together the world's leading defence companies, Ukrainian defence industry companies, partner governments, embassies, and Ukrainian officials to strengthen the development of the Ukrainian defence 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 defence industry, Ukraine will become a major contributor to global security and a very strong player in the global arms and defence technology market. Anyone who is with us, who is with Ukraine, I am sure, will benefit. Today, almost every visit to our partner countries, almost every negotiation with partners, with world leaders, as well as direct communication with defence companies—all this brings Ukraine more investments in the defence sector, new technologies, and, accordingly, production capacities," Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

On the sidelines of the Forum, the President met with CEOs and top managers of defence companies from partner countries and presented state awards to representatives of foreign defence companies for their personal contributions to the development of the Ukrainian defence 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 cooperation prospects, both between companies and between the defence industries of 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 was a letter of intent between the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, the Ministry of Strategic Industries of Ukraine, and the Ministry of Defence of Denmark to introduce financial support for defence production 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 the Ukrainian industry, and we plan to increase funding next year. Our priority is to develop indigenous drones and long-range weapons, including ballistic missiles. The Ministry of Defence is ready to cooperate with foreign partners through joint ventures to develop the defence 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 is already working with Ukrainian partners, 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 very important DFNC2 International Defence Industry Forum. One of our priorities is to develop the Ukrainian defence industry by strengthening international cooperation and foreign investment in Ukrainian defence production. We will continue this important work together with the Ministry of Defence 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!

Videos of the panel discussions are available here.