The Turkish company Baykar has already started constructing a factory in Ukraine to produce Bayraktar drones, Minister for Strategic Industries Oleksandr Kamyshin said on July 10, as cited by Hromadske news outlet.
"This is the same large plant for Bayraktars, which was negotiated several years ago… We have moved on to real steps," Kamyshin said on national television.
Baykar received licenses to manufacture combat drones in Ukraine on June 22. According to the company's CEO, Haluk Bayraktar, the production of drones is set to begin in 2025, and the total investment into the project would amount to around $95 million.
Kyiv and Ankara signed the deal on opening a Baykar factory in Ukraine last February, before Russia's full-scale invasion. Ukraine's parliament ratified the agreement on Dec. 13, 2022.
According to Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov, the drones produced at the plant will be equipped with Ukrainian-made engines, and the facility will also include a training center for Ukrainian pilots.
Bayraktar is a Turkish strike operational-tactical medium-altitude drone with a long flight duration, which Turkey has been supplying to Ukraine for the past few years.
Martin Fornusek
