“We are talking about production on the territory of Ukraine. This is the same large “Bayraktariv” plant, which was negotiated several years ago. They began to build the plant on the ground, not on memoranda . We have moved on to real steps ,”
the minister noted.
About the factory
Kyiv and Ankara signed an agreement, which provides for the creation of a factory for the production of Bayraktar drones in Ukraine, as early as February 2022. In August last year, it became known that Baykar has already purchased a plot of land in Ukraine for the construction of a factory that will produce Bayraktar drones.
Baykar received licenses to manufacture combat drones in Ukraine on June 22. According to the company’s CEO, Haluk Bayraktar, the production of drones is set to begin in 2025, and the total investment into the project would amount to around $95 million.
Kyiv and Ankara signed the deal on opening a Baykar factory in Ukraine last February, before Russia’s full-scale invasion. Ukraine’s parliament ratified the agreement on Dec. 13, 2022.
According to Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov, the drones produced at the plant will be equipped with Ukrainian-made engines, and the facility will also include a training center for Ukrainian pilots.
The Turkish company Baykar intends to build in Ukraine not only a factory for the production of Bayraktar TB2 attack drones, but also to create in Ukraine Bayraktar Akıncı and Bayraktar Kizilelma – a new unmanned fighter. Haluk Bayraktar, the company’s general director, told about this last year in August .
Sources: Hromadske; The Kyiv Independent