News Feed

Parliament approves agreement allowing to launch Bayraktar production in Ukraine.

1 min read
Parliament approves agreement allowing to launch Bayraktar production in Ukraine.
Haluk Bayraktar, the CEO of Baykar company, is pictured at the 30th International Defence Industry Exhibition MSPO in Kielce, Poland on Sept. 6, 2022. (Photo by Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada has ratified the agreement on Turkey-Ukraine cooperation in the field of high technologies, aviation, and space industries, the Member of Parliament Oleksii Honcharenko said on Dec. 13. The document will allow the construction of a factory in Ukraine to produce Turkish Bayraktar drones.

Two countries’ presidents had signed the agreement on Feb. 3 before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine started. The Cabinet of Ministers sent a bill to the Parliament to ratify the agreement in July.

According to Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov, the drones produced at the plant will be equipped with Ukrainian-made engines, and a training center for Ukrainian pilots on operating Bayraktar drones will be created.

Haluk Bayraktar, the CEO of the Turkish company Baykar, producing Bayraktar drones, told BBC on Aug. 26 that they “would never” supply drones to Russia and pledged their support for Ukraine.

The manufacturer had previously provided Bayraktars for free to several fundraisers in Lithuania, Poland, and Ukraine after they raised money to buy the drones for the Ukrainian army.

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.

Avatar
The Kyiv Independent news desk

We are the news team of the Kyiv Independent. We are here to make sure our readers get quick, essential updates about the events in Ukraine. Feel free to contact us via email with feedback and news alerts.

Read more
News Feed
 (Updated:  )

President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Cyprus to meet his Cypriot counterpart, Nikos Christodoulides, and top EU officials, presidential spokesperson Serhii Nykyforov said on Jan. 7.

Video

The Kyiv Independent’s Jared Goyette speaks with foreign policy analyst Ivan Fechko about Venezuela’s political crisis following the U.S. attack and kidnapping of dictator Nicolás Maduro — and why it marks a major strategic setback for Russia in Latin America and globally.

Show More