Finland’s Ministry of Defence is launching a new support programme for Ukraine.
The funding programme is worth 660 million euros, and will be used to order new defence equipment for Ukraine from Finnish defence companies.
"The new support programme will give Finnish companies and expertise a central role in supporting Ukraine. So far, we have mainly supported Ukraine with stock transfers, but in the future, products will be ordered to a significant degree from our domestic companies," Defence Minister Antti Häkkänen (NCP) said on Wednesday.
"This is a significant programme that aims to help Ukraine while at the same time strengthening and developing Finland's own defence industry," he said at a press conference.
Häkkänen argued that this would strengthen Ukraine's chances for fair peace terms while also bolstering Finnish business and security of supply far into the future.
"Spread out over several years"
The ministry has been planning the new support programme since last autumn. The products will be delivered to Ukraine as part of future material assistance packages.
"If you look at the big picture of Finland's support, we’ve now decided on 660 million euros. In connection with that, during the spring we will be providing almost 400 million euros in transfers from warehouses. That means that we’ve provided over a billion euros worth of support related specifically to the acute situation in Ukraine, which improves their negotiating position," he asserted.
According to Häkkänen, the 660-million-euro support programme will be divided over several years.
He said that government aims to get the programme underway during this legislative term, which is set to end in 2027.
Häkkänen said that it would begin "as quickly as possible, but it also depends on Finnish companies: how quickly we can get raw materials and personnel." He did not elaborate on what kind of defence materiel would be included in the programme.
In 2023, shortly after the NCP-led government took office, it said it was exploring the possibility of manufacturing licensed production of Finnish defence firm Patria's armoured vehicles in Ukraine.
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