By Max Hunder
KYIV, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Ukrainian arms producers have received the first wartime licences to export their goods abroad, Rustem Umerov, the secretary of Kyiv's National Security and Defence Council said on Thursday.
Kyiv recently took the politically sensitive decision to export weapons while it fights a war against Russia as it seeks funds to expand its domestic defence industry and tries to use its innovative weapons as diplomatic leverage to strengthen its alliances.
In a statement on social media, Umerov did not specify which enterprises had received a license but said Ukraine's annual production capacity in the defence sector exceeds $55 billion.
A source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters dozens of export applications had been approved.
Ukraine has limited budget funds, but has accumulated vast amounts of battlefield experience and innovative weapons during four years of war with Russia.
It has sought to raise money from allied governments and investors for its home-grown defence industry and set up joint production initiatives with foreign companies.
"We need investment to produce the drones that our guys on the battlefield need today," President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told reporters on Wednesday.
Drones are already being produced in the UK under such an initiative, and Zelenskiy said he will soon take delivery of the first Ukrainian drone made in Germany, where he is expected to attend the Munich Security Conference this weekend.
The Ukrainian leader said he would discuss exports and further joint production facilities at the forum.
MORE THAN 1,000 DEFENCE COMPANIES
Umerov said the interdepartmental government commission which approves arms exports had already held its first meeting in eight months.
Since it was attacked by Russia in February 2022, Ukraine's defence sector has boomed, and now comprises more than 1,000 companies, most of them new private sector enterprises.
Zelenskiy said recently Ukraine has 450 drone producers; small and cheap unmanned aerial vehicles are now responsible for a majority of strikes on battlefield targets.
"In the areas of UAVs, electronic warfare and reconnaissance, our capabilities already exceed the volume of domestic procurement," Umerov wrote. "Coordinated exports allow us to attract investment, scale up production and launch new technologies for the Ukrainian army."
(Reporting by Max Hunder, adiditonal reporting by Yuliia Dysa; Editing by Daniel Flynn and Sharon Singleton)
