US arms manufacturers are concerned about corruption in Ukraine, question the long-term economic viability of doing business in the country and are in no hurry to sign contracts, Defense One reported, citing a US State Department official.
“Several US defence companies are considering joint production inside Ukraine, but questions remain about the safety of doing business in a war zone, the persistence of corruption and long-term economic potential. The Pentagon is pressuring US military contractors to expand cooperation with their Ukrainian counterparts, but US firms have been slower to sign contracts than European companies,” Defense One said in a publication.
The source said US corporations are trying to assess “which local and regional markets will be able to survive the conflict, as it will take years to get a new production line up and running.”
“There has to be a business case for what they might try to do, so it might be worth starting with maintenance, spot repairs or overhauls, spare parts production <…> before moving into more complex production,” the US State Department official explained.
He added that the US government aims to increase the number of companies co-operating with Ukraine: there is a deal team with Kiev, whose task is to supervise such agreements.
We shall remind you that earlier, a former adviser to the Defence Secretary in the administration of former US President Donald Trump, retired Colonel Douglas McGregor, said that over the past twenty years, an aggressive foreign policy has harmed the United States itself.