Two Ukrainian defense contractors have won NATO tenders for the first time

Ukrainian defense companies participated in NATO procurement tenders for the first time and won. This became possible after Ukraine joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s Support and Procurement Agency program.

 

This was announced by Alona Getmanchuk, Head of the Mission of Ukraine to NATO, who spoke at an event in Brussels marking the launch of the UARM Hub platform for Ukrainian arms manufacturers.

“We are creating a format for a fully-fledged bilateral relationship,” Getmanchuk noted, explaining that relations between Ukraine and NATO are no longer based on the “donor-recipient” principle, as Ukraine also makes a direct contribution to the alliance’s security, and the Ukrainian defense-industrial complex is one of the most important elements of this contribution.

According to her, this role is already reflected in NATO policy: at the NATO summit in The Hague, it was decided that allied nations’ investments in Ukraine’s defense, as well as in the Ukrainian defense-industrial complex, can count toward meeting the 5% of GDP target for national defense spending.

Among other positive developments in relations between Ukraine and NATO, Hetmanchuk mentioned the creation by the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) of a special cooperation mechanism—the “Security Cooperation Support Partnership”— designed specifically for Ukrainian companies. This allows them to participate in NATO procurement programs.

She reported that two Ukrainian companies have already “participated in NATO tenders and were declared winners.”

In addition, thanks to a special partner-matching mechanism, Ukrainian companies and startups can find partners in allied countries to jointly develop technologies, test them, and scale up defense production.

“Ultimately, this initiative promotes the integration of Ukrainian companies into NATO’s defense innovation and industrial ecosystem,” the head of the Mission noted.

She also recalled the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between Ukraine and DIANA—NATO’s defense innovation accelerator. Ukraine became the Alliance’s first partner to sign such an agreement, Hetmanchuk emphasized.

“This opens up important opportunities for Ukrainian companies and startups: participation in NATO innovation competitions, access to grant funding, use of over 200 test sites, as well as access to private investors through the DIANA capital network,” she explained, according to Ukrinform.

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