There are no objective prerequisites for a quick end to the war in the next two years, and companies in the security and defense sector should include a horizon of at least 2.5 years in their planning models. This was stated by Oleksiy Babenko, the founder of the Ukrainian UAV manufacturer Vyriy Industries, during the Technovation conference.
There are no objective prerequisites for a quick end to the war in the next two years, and companies in the security and defense sector should include a horizon of at least 2.5 years in their planning models. This was stated by Oleksiy Babenko, the founder of the Ukrainian UAV manufacturer Vyriy Industries, during the Technovation conference.
According to him, attempts by politicians to promise "peace in one day" do not correspond to the realities on the battlefield and the resources of the parties.
"Objectively, in the next two years we will not have the opportunity to somehow end it in a day. I think no one in the world will try harder than Trump tried to end it. We plan the development of the company and financial models based on the logic that in 2.5 years we can actually end the war — ideally, of course, with our victory," Babenko noted.
At the same time, the head of the company emphasized the growing dilemma between the needs of the front and the survival of the economy. On the one hand, the critical state of the domestic market and the loss of export revenues require the opening of foreign markets or the transition to civilian dual-use products, since the economy will not be able to function for a long time solely on subsidies. On the other hand, the military threat remains existential.
"Many people are used to thinking that the worst-case scenario is impossible, but any section of the front could collapse — and reach the Dnieper or even further. It doesn’t matter what exports will be if in a year we will be sitting not in Kyiv, but somewhere very far away. Therefore, the first focus of the state and relevant departments should remain 100% on defense," emphasized the founder of Vyriy.
At the same time, for Ukrainian manufacturers whose developments have not been awarded large government contracts or have not found mass application on the battlefield, entering the export or developing the dual-use sector is a vital step to preserve production capacity.
Vyriy himself, according to the entrepreneur, is currently fully focused on military developments for the defense forces: "For now, we will be focused solely on war, because we understand this and we are good at it."
