EU pledges to produce 2 mln artillery shells for Ukraine annually
Photo: From open sources
Starting in 2025, the EU will be able to produce up to two million artillery shells for Ukraine annually, EU Commissioner for Budget and Administration Johannes Hahn says.
By March 2024, by which time the EU has promised to supply Ukraine with one million shells, "we will already be able to supply 500,200 artillery rounds."
"By the end of the year, we will have such a large production capacity that we will be able to produce two million artillery shells starting next year," Hahn said.
The European Commissioner admitted that the bloc was unable to fulfill its promise to supply one million shells to Ukraine due to production problems.
"Ammunition has always been produced only according to demand. That is why we have cut many production capacities in the past, and now we have to build them up again."
On May 3 last year, the EU Council approved a decision to provide Ukraine with €1 billion in aid for joint procurement of ammunition and missiles.
The procurement plan was to compensate for supplies to member states, another €1 billion for joint purchases of ammunition, and an increase in EU production capacity.
On November 14, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius admitted that the EU would not be able to provide Ukraine with one million artillery shells by March 2024.
In recent months the bloc has significantly increased its ammunition production and will bring this capacity to 1 million rounds per year in March this year and to 2 million in 2025.
The German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall is currently one of the main suppliers of military equipment to Ukraine, which promises to supply the Armed Forces with a large number of different ammunition and armored vehicles this year and next.
