By Jan Lopatka
PRAGUE (Reuters) -The Czech president pressed political parties on Monday to maintain an ammunition supply programme for Ukraine against Russia's invasion following the election victory of a populist party that has pledged to scrap the scheme.
Ending a scheme that has helped Ukraine diminish Russia's firepower advantage would damage Prague's standing among NATO allies as well as Kyiv's defences, President Petr Pavel said after meeting party leaders on forming a new cabinet.
Before the election, populist ANO leader Andrej Babis had said he would end the ammunition drive, calling it overpriced and opaque. He has said the European Union and NATO should handle aid for Ukraine.
ANO is now holding talks with two small parties to secure a parliamentary majority, including the far-right SPD, which wants to cut all aid for Ukraine.
UKRAINE'S DEFENCE, CZECH REPUTATION AT STAKE
"If we were to reduce or even end this support, we would primarily harm ourselves, but ending this support would also have a negative impact on Ukraine, where many more would lose their lives," Pavel, a former NATO military official who helped start the scheme last year, told reporters on Monday.
Pavel said Babis could obtain more information about how the programme worked.
"I assume that both with Andrej Babis, and with the representatives of the other parties, we will bear in mind, above all, the interest of the Czech Republic, our allies and partners such as Ukraine," Pavel said.
The programme pulls together Czech officials with arms traders finding ammunition around the world and Western donor nations who pick concrete offers to finance purchases. The Czech government has only financed a small part of the shipments.
Traders arrange logistics, quality checks and refits. The scheme is transparent for the donors, Czech officials say. Individual shipments have been kept secret for safety and business reasons.
Babis has denounced what he calls high profits made by the traders.
There are several Czech companies involved, with the largest role taken by the Czechoslovak Group (CSG), which has rapidly grown on ammunition production and trading for Ukraine.
After the Oct. 3-4 election, Babis criticised the initiative but did not state clearly again that he would end it.
"When someone makes 30 billion crowns ($1.44 billion) at the expense of Ukraine, we don't like it," he said on Saturday, adding he would be "resolving it", possibly with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Babis had no immediate reaction on Monday.
CSG said it would not comment on statements by politicians but that it saw the ammunition supply drive "not only as business but also a prestigious project valued among allies".
The Czech government expects shipments under the programme to rise this year, after deliveries of 1.5 million ammunition pieces, including 500,000 155mm artillery shells, in 2024.
($1 = 0.8546 euros)
(Reporting by Jan Lopatka and Jason Hovet; editing by Sharon Singleton and Mark Heinrich)
