Czech PM proposes procurement increase of additional 200,000 shells for Ukraine’s armed forces

Prime Minister of the Czech Republic Petr Fiala stated that in addition to the purchase of 300,000 units of artillery ammunition for Ukraine's armed forces from third countries, the Czech initiative was promised another 200,000 units on an optional basis.

The Czech News reported that.

"I consider this a great success. This is another proof that the Czech Republic is a fully active player in European security policy," he said.

The Prime Minister noted that 18 countries have joined the initiative.

In recent months, Ukraine's armed forces have experienced an acute shortage of artillery ammunition at the front. Recently, for this reason, Ukrainian fighters had to retreat from the city of Avdiivka, as well as lose several more settlements in the Donetsk region.

It should be noted that on May 3 last year, the Council of the EU approved a decision on aid for Ukraine in the amount of 1 billion euros for the joint procurement of ammunition and missiles.

The procurement plan provided for allocating 1 billion euros for compensation of supplies to member states, another 1 billion for joint procurement of ammunition, and increased production capacity in the EU.

On November 14, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius admitted that the European Union could not provide Ukraine with one million artillery shells by March 2024.

However, on January 11, the European Commission announced that the European Union could produce one million rounds of ammunition for Ukraine by the end of the winter of 2024.

Subsequently, it became known that during the past months, the European Union has significantly increased the production of ammunition and will increase this capacity to 1 million ammunition per year in March of this year and to 2 million in 2025.

However, the European Union is ready to produce up to 2 million artillery ammunition for Ukraine annually from 2025.

For reference:

On February 17, at the Munich Security Conference, Czech President Petr Pavel said that his country had found 500,000 155 mm and 300,000 122 mm rounds that could be delivered within weeks if the money was available.

According to Pavel, the Czech Republic could transfer the projectiles in weeks if funding is obtained from the USA, Germany, Sweden, and others.

It is known that the following joined the initiative of the Czech Republic:

• Canada, which will allocate 30 million Canadian dollars (about 23 million US dollars) for the purchase of ammunition for Ukraine outside NATO;
• The Netherlands allocates more than 100 million euros to this initiative;
• Belgium, which will give 200 million euros for the initiative of the Czech Republic;
• Lithuania will join the Czech initiative to purchase and transfer ammunition to Ukraine.
• In total, 15 countries support the procurement of ammunition for Ukraine outside of Europe.

It is worth adding that during the past months, the European Union has significantly increased the production of ammunition and will bring this capacity to 1 million ammunition per year in March of this year and to 2 million in 2025.

Earlier, the president of the Czech Republic, Petr Pavel, said that 800,000 artillery shells purchased in third countries could be delivered to Ukraine within a few weeks.