Latest news with #OndrejBohac
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Ukraine Business Roundup — The foreign arms producer showing real results in Ukraine
For all the hype around foreign weapons producers setting up shop in Ukraine to help it fend off Russia's invasion, they have little to show for it. With the exception of the Prague-domiciled conglomerate Colt CZ, which has set up assembly of its Bren 2 assault rifles inside Ukraine, reporter Kollen Post writes in his latest. The Ukraine-assembled rifle — dubbed the 'Sich' for the center of life of the Ukrainian historical nomad-warrior Cossacks — offers swappable components for alternating between Soviet and NATO calibers. Ondrej Bohac, head of public sector at Colt CZ, said that something in the 'upper tens of thousands' are already in Ukrainian hands and 'tens of thousands should be assembled (in Ukraine) this year.' The company's ultimate goal is to 'get rid of Ukrainian dependence on Soviet weapons, like the AK-47, and not only on the weapons themselves but also on the ammunition, which is still produced mainly in Russia and Belarus,' Bohac told Post. Ukraine does not seem close to running through its old stockpiles of ammunition, but as with the conversion from Soviet 122 and 152 mm artillery to NATO-standard 120 and 155 mm, the transition is a long-term Western turn. Many international arms giants have announced plans to build their wares inside of Ukraine, ranging from Rheinmetall to Northrop Grumman to Baykar, but those projects have mostly stalled out, writes Post. Colt CZ is one of the first to set up production, putting the firm in a relative frontier position. Its experience will be a bellwether for NATO-based weapons manufacturers expanding to Ukraine. Read the full profile here. Ukraine's Central Bank raised the key policy rate from 14.5% to 15.5% per annum from March 7, adding that it was ready to take further steps to curb growing inflation in the country. The move marks the second raise of the key policy rate since the beginning of 2025. In late January, the central bank raised it from 13.5% to 14.5%. Inflation reached its highest level in about 18 months in January as a result of a lower harvest, growing business costs, particularly energy, and continued Russian attacks. Price growth was expected to peak sometime in the middle of this year, but tense relations with the Donald Trump administration have soured expectations. Pyshnyi also warned of increasing risks due to less favorable economic trends caused by "further geopolitical polarization of countries" and "the corresponding fragmentation of global trade." After the Oval Office showdown a couple of weeks ago and the subsequent collapse of the minerals agreement, everyone in town is wondering what's up with the deal. Some reports have suggested that in retaliation for an argument in the White House, Trump was negotiating for a 'better deal.' But multiple sources have told the Kyiv Independent that the details of the agreement haven't changed, and that it's more a matter of when the two sides will sign it — which remains unclear. It could all hinge on this week's meetings in Saudi Arabia. Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff told Fox News that he was 'really hopeful' that President Volodymyr Zelensky would return to the U.S. to sign the deal in the near future. Ukraine's government plans to spend $2.6 billion purchasing 4.5 million first-person-view (FPV) drones this year as part of a large-scale effort to equip its military with advanced technologies, the Defense Ministry said on March 10. Ukraine purchased 1.5 million drones in 2024, with 96% of spending going to Ukrainian producers. A Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, USAID has provided $2.6 billion in humanitarian aid, $5 billion in development assistance, and more than $30 billion in direct budget support to Kyiv. The agency funded school reconstruction, bomb shelters, critical energy repairs, and civil society initiatives. A Russian attack on Ukraine's energy infrastructure overnight on March 7 forced Ukraine's largest private energy company DTEK to shut down one of its gas production facilities in Poltava Oblast. Meanwhile, DTEK is in talks with U.S. suppliers to bring more natural gas to Europe, Wall Street Journal reported. Ukraine's largest state-owned energy company, Naftogaz, and Poland's petroleum refineries company, Orlen, have signed a contract for the supply of approximately 100 million cubic meters (mcm) of liquefied natural gas (LNG), Naftogaz announced on March 7. As Russia continues targeting Ukraine's energy infrastructure, domestic gas production has declined due to Russian strikes, forcing Ukraine to increase imports. Ukraine has received 752 million pounds ($970 million) as the first installment of the U.K.'s contribution to the G7 loan covered by frozen Russian assets, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal announced on March 7. "The funds will go towards strengthening Ukraine's defense capabilities," Shmyhal said on X. Subscribe to the Newsletter Ukraine Business Roundup Subscribe We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
The Czech weapons giant replacing the Kalashnikov in Ukraine's army
The Russian-made Kalashnikov still prevails as the main small arm in Ukraine's military. A Czech weapons giant is setting up shop in Ukraine's factories to change that. The Prague-domiciled conglomerate, Colt CZ, has set up assembly of its Bren 2 assault rifles inside Ukraine under the name 'Sich' — the center of life for Zaporizhzhian Cossacks, a historical group of Ukrainian semi-nomadic warriors. The goal, as Colt CZ's head of public sector, Ondrej Bohac, put it, is to 'get rid of Ukrainian dependence on Soviet weapons, like the AK-47, and not only on the weapons themselves but also on the ammunition, which is still produced mainly in Russia and Belarus.' Ukraine does not seem close to running through its old stockpiles of ammunition, but as with the conversion from Soviet 122 and 152 mm artillery to NATO-standard 120 and 155 mm, the transition is a long-term Western turn. The Sich offers swappable components for alternating between Soviet and NATO calibers. Tens of thousands of the assault rifles are already in the hands of Ukrainian soldiers, mostly from Czechia, but they have begun assembly inside of Ukraine. Many international arms giants have announced plans to build their wares inside of Ukraine, ranging from Rheinmetall to Northrop Grumman to Baykar. Colt CZ is one of the first to set up production, putting the firm in a relative frontier position. Its experience will be a bellwether for NATO-based weapons manufacturers expanding to Ukraine. Colt CZ began its life as Jihoceska Zbrojovka, or the South Czech Armory, shortly after the First World War and the breakup of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Renamed to Ceska Zbrojovka, or Czech Armory, it would go on to survive Nazi occupation and Soviet domination and ultimately an invasion by Warsaw Pact soldiers in 1968. In large part thanks to Ceska Zbrojovka, Czechoslovakia would retain an unusually independent military until the fall of the USSR. Recent years have seen the company expand internationally, most conspicuously in buying the Connecticut-originated Colt brand, the unofficial armory of the American Wild West whose name now sits alongside 'CZ' in the company's title. Today, Colt CZ can assemble 400 of their Bren 2 Siches per day in Ukrainian factories, according to Bohac. Ukraine's state-owned defense conglomerate, UkrOboronProm, announced the start of production in December. The assembly lines are owned and staffed by UkrOboronProm, which, for the time being, is getting components shipped from Colt CZ's original factories. Colt CZ is, in turn, training the Ukrainian staff and leasing out their assembly method. It's an arrangement that is becoming standard for international arms makers looking to set up inside of Ukraine. Many have made announcements of doing so over the past three years, but projects by firms like Rheinmetall or Northrop Grumman, primarily to produce 155 mm artillery ammunition, have stalled out. Colt CZ is among the biggest to have started production, at least partially because the guns are themselves small arms rather than, say, ballistic missiles. The speed of set-up is also thanks to the geographical and political proximity of Ukraine and Czechia's own experience under the Soviet heel. 'It shows our commitment to support the industry and actually do things and not only talk about them,' said Bohac. It has been a complicated road to 'the integration of our defense-industrial complex with the industrial chain of NATO nations,' UkrOboronProm's general director, Oleh Hulyak, said in December. Ukrainians fear giving over their home turf to foreign business. Foreign companies are wary of Ukrainian law, particularly historically lax local intellectual property, or IP, protections. In their absence, foreign brands are loath to leave their inventions in Ukraine, where they risk being stolen and counterfeited, in some cases by UkrOboronProm itself. Ukrainian courts are famously unreliable, and their sentences for IP violations often stop at trivial fines. When asked whether Colt CZ would ever end up fighting for its IP rights in a Ukrainian courtroom, Bohac responded, 'Hopefully not — like any other global company, we always prefer that it's resolved in a third-country courtroom.' The Ukrainian production is starting with just assembly of components manufactured in Colt CZ's factories in Czechia, protecting the process while the assembly line for Bren 2 Sich rifles expands. UkrOboronProm gets a stake in the sale, and the Ukrainian government gets to buy from the home team. 'It has opened the door to the Ukrainian market because every country prefers to procure from domestic producers,' said Bohac. It has been a process of diplomacy for Bohac, himself a former Czech diplomat. The Colt CZ deal is not the first time the Ukrainian military has tried to move its main rifles on to NATO calibers. In 2017, a much-touted rollout of a copy of the American M4 called the WAC-47, which UkrOboronProm announced would have replaceable parts to take both NATO and Kalashnikov-standard ammunition, came to nothing. Bohac declined to identify exactly how many Siches had been produced locally, citing UkrOboronProm's rules, but said that something in the 'upper tens of thousands' are already in Ukrainian hands and 'tens of thousands should be assembled (in Ukraine) this year.' Colt CZ also envisions more component manufacturing in Ukraine and expansion into other weapons, including their P10 pistols and CZ Scorpion Evo 3. Among Colt CZ's latest acquisitions is Sellier & Bellot, another Czech company that's made ammunition for almost 200 years. Sellier & Bellot makes its own machining tools, which are essential to more localized component manufacturing within Ukraine. The plan, said Bohac, is to expand from assembly to component production using those machines. 'We will provide the IP, the machinery, training, and they will take care of all those components and materials, including the powder,' he said. The company also has its eyes on greater global output. Post-war, Colt CZ is envisioning selling from Ukraine to other former Soviet states looking to replace their old rifles. But with the war still raging and export controls still fully up, the immediate market will be strictly Ukrainian. 'I mean, it's a beautiful story that we are making here. It's historical. We hope it will be remembered after decades that Czechia, with international donors through our company, was one of the key forces behind the rearmament of the Ukrainian Armed Forces,' said Bohac. Thanks for reading. Despite Russia's invasion and a new tide of hostility from Washington, D.C. Ukraine remains an incredibly dynamic country. If you like reading about what is happening on the ground, consider becoming a member of the Kyiv Independent.. Read also: Despite hype around Ukrainian weapons tech, foreign investors remain gun-shy We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
