Ukroboronprom: prospects for further existence
Main manufacturer and seller weapons and military equipment in Ukraine is concern "Ukroboronprom". This concern was established in 2010 year. Under his jurisdiction was transferred most of the defense enterprises of Ukraine. In July, the former deputy of the Kherson Regional Council R. Romanov became the head of the concern 2014.
Today, Ukroboronprom has more than 100 enterprises that specialize in aircraft building and aircraft repair, ammunition and precision weapons, automotive, armored and special equipment, radar, air defense systems and radio communications, shipbuilding.
The main task of the concern is to meet the needs of the Ukrainian army in the latest models of weapons and military equipment, as well as strengthen the international authority of the Ukrainian state by expanding sales markets and increasing the importance and role of the Ukrainian defense industry in the socio-economic development of the state.
But what happens in practice? In the light of recent events that have been taking place in eastern Ukraine for half a year already, the need of the Ukrainian army for armament and military equipment has increased significantly. The Cabinet of Ministers buys out all the equipment that is available in the warehouses and arsenals of Ukroboronprom, and sends it to the zone of the “anti-terrorist operation”. It is quite obvious that the equipment, which was in reserve over time, needs repair and restoration. This task is also assigned to enterprises of the military-industrial complex.
In addition, after the decision to cease cooperation with Russia in the defense sector, a rather serious problem arose - the need to replace Russian components. After all, the peculiarity of military equipment, which is mainly used by the Ukrainian armed forces, is that many samples were developed in the Soviet Union, through the joint efforts of Ukrainian and Russian enterprises. Therefore, there is something to replace.
Based on media statements, Ukrainian officials may well have found a way out. Thus, in the course of the international aerospace show in Farnborough, representatives of the Ukrainian delegation, in particular, Ukroboronprom, held several successful meetings with representatives of other countries. Currently, it has become known that the Ukrainian side has already managed to reach certain agreements regarding the import substitution of part of the units and assemblies that were previously supplied from Russia.
The current situation in the country, in particular, in the eastern regions, is so unstable that the supply of military products to the national armed forces will only grow. So, already this year, the volume of military products, which "Ukroboronprom" put the army, reached 13 billion hryvnia (for comparison: 12,97 billion UAH for the entire 2012 year). In addition, the group director predicts that these volumes will only increase, and in 2015, they will already amount to 17 billion hryvnias. Also, according to Romanov, the state concern intends to focus mainly on the development of modern types of weapons with a view to the subsequent rearmament of the Ukrainian army.
Currently, experts of the state-owned research institute Kvant, which is part of Ukroboronprom, have developed the latest weapon control system for armored vehicles - the panoramic television complex 2Р. Currently, the prototype is ready for testing. This device is designed to guide a special camera in the horizontal plane of view. The range of such a camera is 360 degrees. The system is also capable of generating and sending a signal to the weapon control system. This complex is able to work in any natural and climatic conditions, and its service life reaches 10 years.
A little earlier, the specialists of the state concern created a multifunctional control and reconnaissance complex, which consists of a laser range finder, an individual CH-3003М navigation device, an electronic complex and other additional devices. This complex is able to provide significant assistance to the intelligence and artillery units of the Ukrainian armed forces. However, so far the military department has not adopted it, although its use would make it possible to increase the effectiveness of the use of weapons, significantly reducing the time to prepare accurate data for indicating the target.
It is necessary to especially emphasize another important aspect of the group’s activities in the new environment - the transition to NATO standards in military production. According to the First Deputy Director General of the Concern S. Pinkas, such a transition will provide an opportunity to significantly increase the level of the country's defense. Currently, according to S. Pinkas, the transition to NATO standards is a priority for Ukroboronprom enterprises. The official noted that the lion's share of the Ukrainian military equipment was created during the Soviet era, so in certain cases it is inferior to the new models. And the transition to European standards will allow the Ukrainian armed forces to re-equip, structure management and finance, as well as unify production processes.
By the way, the work of the armored enterprises of Ukraine has already been unified. So, in order to maximize the utilization of production capacities and taking into account the tight deadlines, the management of the concern initiated an exchange between the enterprises of the necessary technical documentation in the armored industry. Previously, the following scheme was practiced: if, for example, Kharkov tank the factory specialized exclusively in the production of T-64 tanks, then only this enterprise had all the technical documentation. But, according to the leaders of the concern, the Lviv plant has all the necessary equipment that is necessary for working with tanks of this type. Therefore, the management of Ukroboronprom resolved the issue with the General Staff and the Ministry of Defense, and currently all the necessary documentation has already been provided to Lviv specialists, and T-64 tanks are already being repaired at the local plant in Lviv.
In addition, the Zhytomyr Armored Plant had a priority for the repair of light armored vehicles, but one company was simply unable to repair as many cars as was necessary for a successful anti-terrorist operation. Therefore, in the very near future, repair work will be carried out by other enterprises that are part of Ukroboronprom.
Unfortunately, the situation that has developed in the east of Ukraine has not only led to the actual revival of many enterprises that were previously on the verge of survival. Numerous violations were also identified. Without theft, as usual, not done. The conflict in the Donbas helped to identify violations and abuses in the defense sphere. The facts of the plundering of state property and the corruption of officials are everywhere. So, only in April of this year, the military prosecutor's office registered more than 6 hundreds of criminal cases concerning the illegal activities of the Ministry of Defense and Ukroboronprom.
One of the new ones is the opening of criminal proceedings against officials of the Antonov state-owned enterprise on the fact of abuse of official position and official negligence during the proceedings aviation equipment and components.
However, it all started much earlier. Thus, the “first sign” in the number of crimes was the identification of damage in the amount of almost 17 million hryvnia, which was caused by the leadership of the “Kiev Armored Plant”. So, in June, the company received 64 million hryvnia from the budget for armored personnel carriers, which were supplied for the needs of the National Guard. But when the delivery time came for this armored vehicle, it turned out that there was nothing to deliver. And all because the management of the company signed a contract with a certain commercial firm for the supply of new armored vehicles, although this company not only does not produce these buildings, but does not even have the necessary license to trade military products. Nevertheless, the leaders of the Kiev plant transferred to the company 16,8 a million hryvnia, in return without receiving anything.
This is not the only violation that has been identified in the enterprise. So, at the same Kiev factory, the fact of the shortage of ... T-64 tanks was revealed. The company's management is accused of trying to appropriate and resell 7 tanks of this type abroad. These vehicles were repaired and prepared for sale, although there was no agreement with the military department.
Problems exist in other armored factories. So, for example, at the Kharkiv “Malyshev Plant”, the General Prosecutor’s Office launched an investigation into 12,5 embezzlement of a million hryvnia from budget funds.
And on the territory of the “Zhytomyr Armored Plant”, 78 units of light armored vehicles were stored. But for some reason all this equipment was disassembled, and there were no engines and transmissions on all the machines.
As we noted above, there are problems in aviation. In particular, the management of the Kiev enterprise Antonov for the period from 2006 to 2012 spent the year 111 millions of funds from the state budget, which were used to develop a military transport aircraft An-70. But when the military prosecutor's office began to check, the entire management of the company was gone, which made it impossible to seize financial and accounting documentation for the examination.
A judicial investigation has also been launched regarding the management of the private joint-stock company Ukrainian Helicopters Air Company (suspicion of the non-return of 16 leased Mi-8 helicopters, which belong to the Ministry of Defense).
In total, according to the prosecutor's office of Ukraine, at 17 enterprises that are part of the state concern Ukroboronprom, about 190 units of armored and automotive vehicles were lost, 440 units of artillery and aircraft were dismantled. Thus, the loss of the state amounted to more than 27 million hryvnia.
However, all is not lost, analysts say. The concern has a chance to continue to exist, but only if it is possible to bring to justice all corrupt officials, and at the head of the enterprise to put a person who will work for the good of the state, and not with thoughts about his own big pocket.
Moreover, certain prospects for the development of the concern have already been outlined. So, in particular, the leadership of "Ukroboronprom" announced that it received a lucrative contract, which is estimated at half a billion dollars. True, no details are reported on how they are silent about who this particular contract was concluded with.
Management also hopes to renew the Iraqi contract that was concluded in 2009.
Recall, according to the contract, "Ukroboronprom" was supposed to supply Iraq with 420 units of BTR-4. The contract amount was estimated at 2,4 billion dollars. In 2013, the host found some defects in Ukrainian armored vehicles and refused to accept it. But the leadership of the Ukrainian concern hopes that it will be possible to solve all the problems associated with the supply of armored personnel carriers to Iraq, where the situation is also very difficult now, and there is a need for equipment.
In addition, Ukraine has agreed with Sweden and Poland on joint military production. These agreements were reached as part of the program for the import substitution of Russian military production. Between the parties, agreements were reached on the main aspects of cooperation, the organization of joint production in Ukraine, the sale of new and modernized equipment, and the acquisition of new technologies.
Thus, it is quite obvious that there are prospects for the existence and further development of the military industry with Ukraine, and, as Ukrainian officials say, these prospects are very good. The main thing - do not plunder and do not ruin everything again.
Materials used:
http://rian.com.ua/analytics/20141021/358540867.html
http://www.ukrinform.ua/rus/news/ukroboronprom_unifitsiruet_rabotu_bronetankovih_zavodov_1677027
http://www.ukrinform.ua/rus/news/v_ukroboronprome_nadeyutsya_na_vozobnovlenie_irakskogo_kontrakta_1676588
http://uaport.net/news/ru/t/1410/24/6368216
http://telegraf.com.ua/biznes/kompanii/1381754-ukroboronprom-ishhet-alternativu-rossiyskim-komplektuyushhim.html
http://gazeta.zn.ua/internal/lozh-ubivayuschaya-_.html
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