The agreement establishes a comprehensive €161 million financial programme. This includes a €140 million EU guarantee and a further €21 million in EU investment grants.
This week, the European Commission and Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence launched a new cooperation initiative focused on investing in innovative and breakthrough technologies.
Unveiled during the EU–Ukraine business summit in Brussels, the initiative is an important step toward strengthening Ukraine’s stability, developing the defence-industrial complex, and bolstering the state’s defence capabilities.
The agreement establishes a comprehensive €160 million financial programme. This includes a €140 million EU guarantee and a further €21 million in EU investment grants.
Together, these instruments are expected to unlock up to €400 million in bank financing to support both capital investment and operating costs.
The program aims to support strategic sectors of the Ukrainian economy, with a particular focus on industries developing innovative and advanced dual-use technologies. These include, inter alia, air, land, and sea drones; electronic protection devices; space technology; communications; navigation; and critical components.
Crucially, the initiative is also expected to create new opportunities for startups and scaleups operating at the intersection of defence and deep tech.
By de-risking early-stage investment and unlocking access to larger pools of capital, the programme could help emerging companies move more quickly from prototype to deployment, particularly in areas such as autonomous systems, AI-enabled battlefield intelligence, and resilient communications.
According to Deputy Minister of Defence of Ukraine for European Integration, Serhiy Boyev:
“We are launching systematic cooperation with the European Commission in the field of investing in defence innovations.
Our efforts are aimed at supporting technologies that have already proven effective on the battlefield and determining the advantage in modern warfare.”
“Today, dual-use technologies play an important role in both defence and industrial development. Therefore, such support contributes to specific Ukrainian capabilities: stronger production, greater technological capabilities, and the development of solutions needed by defence. In a broader sense, it is also a contribution to the security of the whole of Europe,” the adviser to the Minister of Defence of Ukraine, Hanna Hvozdyar, noted.
The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine will coordinate the program. The National Development Institution (NUR) will serve as the program’s executor.