Expert: It is not in Slovakia’s interest to prevent its own defense industry from producing weapons for Ukraine

It is unlikely that the new government will be able to prevent the Slovak military-industrial complex from producing weapons and ammunition for Ukraine, as this will hit the local economy.  This opinion was expressed by Matej Kandrik, director of the Adapt Institute (Bratislava), at a briefing at the Ukraine-Odesa Media Center.

“Orders are paid for either by Ukraine’s European partners or by the Ukrainian government itself. It seems to me that the Slovak government does not have much power to prevent this. It is possible, but such steps would be harmful to any government. Contracts [to produce weapons for Ukraine] mean jobs for Slovaks. Moreover, these strengths are now growing, and the government is unlikely to want to interfere in the affairs of this business. This may even lead to bankruptcies of some companies in the Slovak defense industry,” the expert says.

In the summer, Ukraine and Slovakia agreed to jointly produce Zuzana-2 howitzers, which are manufactured by Konstrukta Defense. It belongs to the DND holding, which is partially controlled by the state.

“The situation with this company is more complicated than with other companies, but we still cannot say that it is fully controlled by the government. There is still a certain amount of private capital,” Kandrik said.

The recent supply of weapons from the Slovak army’s stockpiles to Ukraine has stopped because the possible reserves have most likely been exhausted, the expert said. Earlier, Slovakia supplied Ukraine with missiles for S-300 air defense systems, Mig-29 aircraft, and other weapons.

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