On July 9, the first foreign representative office of JSC "Ukrainian Defense Industry" (UDI) opened in Washington, DC. Its main task is to strengthen cooperation between Ukraine and the United States in the defense industry. Specifically, it will focus on interaction with local business and expert organizations, cooperation with government agencies and defense organizations, and support for UDI enterprises' projects in the United States and partner countries.

"We are grateful to our American partners for their support and believe that the work of the representative office is an important step to strengthen our cooperation. Currently, Ukrainian companies already have a number of agreements in principle with their American counterparts. UDI representative office in the U.S. will help speed up their implementation and strengthen the integration of Ukrainian defense industry into NATO's defense industrial base," said Minister of Strategic Industries Alexander Kamyshin.

The opening ceremony was attended by teams from the Ministry of Strategic Industries of Ukraine, UDI management, and U.S. government officials.

The office will search for investment opportunities and potential military-technical partners in the United States. One of the priorities is the latest military technologies, their search, and effective implementation. Another priority is to ensure interaction between Ukrainian and foreign teams to manage joint ventures.

"We are interested in deepening cooperation with American weapons manufacturers, which promotes technology transfer, development of joint projects, and investment. This may include ammunition, air and missile defense systems, electronic warfare, etc. We have a lot to offer our overseas colleagues. Ukrainian specialists have unique and successful experience in the production and restoration of weapons and military equipment, gained during a full-scale war with Russian invaders," said Director General of JSC "Ukrainian Defense Industry" Herman Smetanin.

Photo: Dmytro Melnyk (Voice of America)