The founder of the private military company Blackwater Eric Prince offered the Ukrainian authorities large deals in the defense sector, writes The Time magazine
“One of the proposals was to set up a new private military company that would recruit military personnel from among veterans of the ongoing war in eastern Ukraine. Another was to create a new munitions factory in Ukraine, and a third was to consolidate Ukraine’s leading aviation and aerospace firms into a consortium that would compete with firms like Boeing and Airbus”, – according to the American Journal piece.
According to the paper, Prince was perceived as a person close to former US President Donald Trump. However, Prince’s plans failed to materialise largely due to Trump’s failure to win the presidential election again.
In addition, the Blackwater PMC founder relied on Ukrainian politicians Andriy Derkach and Andriy Artemenko, against whom criminal proceedings are pending in the United States, for his deals. In comments to Time, Derkach and Artemenko confirmed the fact of working with Prince.
Prince founded the private military company Blackwater, which he later sold in 2010. It has now renamed itself Academi. The PMC is known for its participation in combat operations around the world. The plan for the Ukrainian defence sector was to invest and earn up to $10 billion.
According to Time, in June 2020, Prince met with the head of the Ukrainian presidential administration, Andriy Yermak. Following which, a law firm close to the Ukrainian government engaged in preparations for a possible deal to buy Motor Sich. However, after Trump’s chances of being re-elected diminished, the work was halted. The status of Prince’s proposed projects is currently unknown.