You're reading: Ukroboronprom pins hopes on signing new agreements on defense procurements with US

The Ukroboronprom state concern expects intensification of military and technical cooperation with the United States in connection with the upcoming signing of new bilateral agreements on defense procurements, Deputy Head of the State Concern Denys Hurak told Interfax-Ukraine.

“At present, the Ukrainian and American sides are working out the issue of signing two new agreements on defense purchases. The first document provides for equal access of the parties to the defense products markets of the two countries, the second – access of Ukrainian companies to U.S. funds for the development and production of weapons and military equipment,” he told the agency on Friday.

The Ukroboronprom deputy head considers it inappropriate to forecast the timeframe for signing the new agreements. “The drafts of the documents have already been prepared by the parties, and work is in progress in this area,” he added.

“The signing of new Ukrainian-U.S. agreements on defense purchases is intended to intensify the bilateral military-technical cooperation and is aimed, among other things, at implementing initiatives announced by the United States in 2014 to compensate the losses of the Ukrainian defense industry from severing military and technical cooperation with the Russian Federation,” he said.

As reported, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said earlier the United States can decide the issue of providing Ukraine with defensive weapons within the current fiscal year.

“As for the defense agreements, the text we have today is almost agreed upon. We expect a visit to Ukraine by the U.S. defense minister within two or three months and I hope that the agreements will be signed during the visit,” Poroshenko said summing up the results of his visit to the U.S. on June 19-20.