Photo. 26th Artillery Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
Volodymyr Zelensky announced that Poland has prepared a new defence package for Ukraine. It is to include loans, covering the procurement of weapons from the Polish defence industry.
Zelensky announced the new package during PM Donald Tusk’s visit to Kyiv. The talks that happened also referred to joint manufacturing of armament by both the Polish and Ukrainian arms industries.
So far the scope and the purpose of the Polish loans remain unknown. These would probably entail governmental guarantees as well. We know that Poland, apart from providing military aid to Ukraine, was also closing commercial arms deals within that context. The largest, and the best known of the signed contracts concerned 54 Krab howitzers, with a price tag of PLN 2.7 bn. (and it was signed back in 2022, with deliveries expected to be finalized in 2024).
The available information also suggests that FlyEye UAVs and Warmate loitering munitions, as well as Piorun MANPADS, were also procured through business deals. A contract was also planned to be signed regarding the Rosomak APCs. No information is available, however, on the finalization of the aforesaid deal. Poland delivered a small batch of those in 2023, coming from a national stockpile.
Armament as such would be financed via loans – the type of loan would depend on the amounts involved, and arrangements made by both parties. Apart from heavy equipment, such as Krab systems, Poland has also been delivering new munitions, or individual kit elements to Ukraine. Kyiv also received the Oncilla 4×4 vehicles from Poland.
