Barriers to Accessing Financial Resources for Ukraine’s Defense Industry: What Is Hindering the Scaling of Defense Production

The analytical center We Build Ukraine, together with the Federation of Employers of Ukraine, held a closed roundtable discussion titled “Access of Defense Industry Enterprises to Financial Resources: Barriers and Solutions”, dedicated to the interaction between the financial system and the defense industry in the context of a wartime economy.

The discussion brought together representatives of the Parliament of Ukraine, the National Bank of Ukraine, state-owned banks, defense industry enterprises, and sectoral associations.

The key focus of the discussion was the systemic financial and regulatory constraints that continue to hinder the scaling of Ukrainian defense production, even amid growing demand for defense products.

Participants emphasized that a number of financial regulatory mechanisms originally designed for a peacetime economy are now creating additional barriers for enterprises operating in support of Ukraine’s security and defense sector.

Among the key challenges discussed during the roundtable were:

🔸 limited access to credit resources and working capital;

🔸 challenges related to foreign exchange regulation and foreign currency settlement deadlines;

🔸 strict compliance procedures for defense sector enterprises;

🔸 insufficient development of state guarantee mechanisms and war risk insurance instruments;

🔸 limited opportunities for long-term financing of production and the localization of technologies.

Participants also paid particular attention to the issue of adapting the financial system to the needs of a wartime economy. In particular, the discussion focused on the need to create more predictable conditions for lending to defense industry enterprises, expand risk insurance mechanisms, and update certain regulatory approaches.

Participants also stressed that the pace of development of Ukraine’s defense-tech sector is now significantly outstripping the speed at which parts of the financial and regulatory framework are being updated.

For We Build Ukraine, organizing such discussions is part of a broader effort to create a platform for cooperation between the state, the financial sector, and defense technology manufacturers in order to develop practical solutions for the growth of Ukraine’s defense industry.