On September 29 Vice Minister of National Defence Greta Monika Tučkutė attended the International Defense Industries Forum held under the auspices of Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal in Kyiv. Vice Minister spoke about the importance of defence industry in the wake of the Russian military aggression in Ukraine and the most significant demining challenges since World War II faced in the deoccupied areas of Ukraine.
The International Defense Industries Forum in Kyiv was attended by approx. 800 high-ranking politicians and defence industry representatives from different NATO and EU member states. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy underscored in his opening remarks the need to step military assistance to Ukraine and spur defence industry cooperation.
Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal, Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak, Minister of Defence Rustem Umerov, Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba, Minister of Strategic Industries Oleksandr Kamyshin and others encouraged the Western industry to become investors capable of producing for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
G. M. Tučkutė highlighted in her remarks that “the experience of Ukraine has demonstrated the issue standardization of Western weaponry and military equipment still presents, however, it is possible to solve, among other, by means of different innovations that the Ukrainians have been utilizing in the course of the war successfully. We need to learn Ukraine’s lessons.”
Vice Minister also invited countries to join the demining coalition Lithuania formed with financial contributions and equipment acquisitions. To date, the intent to join has been expressed by ten countries: Belgium, Denmark, Croatia, France, Iceland, Italy, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain and Sweden.
Japan, Slovenia, Poland, Moldova and South Korea are considering joining as well. The concept of the demining coalition will be presented in detail in December.
During the visit to Kyiv, Vice Minister G. M. Tučkutė also had separate meetings with NATO Assistant Secretary General for Defence Investment Wendy Gilmore, Minister of Defence Rustem Umerov, Minister of Strategic Industries Oleksandr Kamyshin, Deputy Minister of Defence of the Czech Republic Daniel Blažkovec, Secretary of State for Defense of Portugal Carlos Pires.
The International Defense Industries Forum in Kyiv was attended by approx. 200 defence industry representatives from different countries. Lithuania’s defence industry was represented by RSI Europe and ATRI.
