The
appointment of Herman Smetanin, who has been serving as head of
the Kharkiv Malyshev Plant in northeast Ukraine, as the new
general director of Ukroboronprom is part of a broader
transformation of the key industry, officials said.
Ukraine, which has been fighting Russian forces since Moscow
began its full-scale invasion in February 2022, depends heavily
on Western military aid and weapons supplies.
"The newly appointed general director faces three main tasks: to
increase the production of ammunition and military equipment,
build an effective anti-corruption infrastructure in the
company, and transform Ukroboronprom," said Oleksander Kamyshyn,
Minister for Ukraine's Strategic Industries.
The government has been pushing for reforms in the domestic
defence industry to modernise local producers, enabling them to
cooperate closer with their Western partners and increase
supplies to the front. Earlier this year the government
announced plans to corporatise Ukroboronprom, improving
transparency and corporate governance at the company.
Despite the war, constant shelling of its military production
facilities and the need to move some plants to safer areas,
Ukraine has been able to launch the production of new artillery
shells. It has also agreed joint projects with central European
producers to repair Ukrainian tanks and other vehicles, and has
been working to develop drone and missile production.
Kamyshyn praised Smetanin, 31, as a young and progressive leader
who quickly rose from being an engineer to head a huge company
producing tanks and other armoured vehicles. Smetanin was born
in Kharkiv, Ukraine's industrial centre in the east, and worked
at several machine-building and tank plants.
"Together, we will be able to strengthen the defence industry,
significantly increase the volume and pace of production and, as
a result, make it an engine to drive the recovery of the
country's economy," Kamyshyn said on the Telegram messaging app.
(Reporting by Olena Harmash, Editing by Timothy Heritage)
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