Ukrainian drone camera manufacturers found themselves in an unequal market environment due to the current system of applying benefits to foreign component manufacturers. This decision was appropriate in the early years of the full-scale war, but not now, when the possibilities of the local market have become much greater.
Ukrainian drone camera manufacturers found themselves in an unequal market environment due to the current system of applying benefits to foreign component manufacturers. This decision was appropriate in the early years of the full-scale war, but not now, when the possibilities of the local market have become much greater.
In Ukraine, foreign component manufacturers are exempt from customs duties and VAT since 2023. Instead, Ukrainian component manufacturers are forced to pay VAT, which adds at least 20% to the cost of products, said Denys Logvinenko, head of the UAV division at Brave1, in an interview with DOU.
The current system of applying benefits in the defense industry no longer takes into account the capabilities of the local market. For example, the IRON defense cluster and the Technological Forces of Ukraine include almost 50 component manufacturers. All of them face unequal market conditions, because it is now cheaper for a drone manufacturer to import a component from abroad than to buy it from a Ukrainian company.
Recall that in March, two associations of private arms manufacturers — IRON Cluster and "Technological Forces of Ukraine" — called for amendments to the legislation and the abolition of privileges for the import of those weapons components for which Ukrainian manufacturers already have alternatives.
The official position of the authorities on this initiative remains unknown.
