Ukraine has opened up arms exports – but not for all manufacturers, markets or products. What's wrong with the new mechanism?
Nothing frustrates a Ukrainian arms manufacturer quite like attending an international defence exhibition.
On the one hand, it's an opportunity to showcase their developments to the world, find new partners, hold negotiations and feel part of the global arms market. But on the other hand, even in the fifth year of the full-scale war, Ukraine's entire defence industrial base continues to live in a paradoxical reality: it can demonstrate its products, but it can't fully sell them abroad.
This problem was particularly evident in June at the Eurosatory-2026 exhibition in Paris – Europe's largest defence forum.
The scale of the exhibition was impressive. There were nearly a dozen vast pavilions filled with American, European and Asian corporations with hundred-billion-dollar budgets. Many of these companies have spent decades refining their technologies, although few of them have tested their products extensively in real combat.
Stepping into the Ukrainian pavilion was like entering a different world. The manufacturers here weren't showcasing equipment that had proven itself in wars long past. They were presenting technologies from a war that is going on right now.
Attack drones, interceptor drones, ground robotic systems, sea drones, autonomous platforms, new communication, command and reconnaissance systems – the Ukrainian displays seemed to consist almost entirely of unmanned systems, every one of which had already been tested in real combat.
There was huge interest in these developments. The Ukrainian stands were constantly surrounded by military delegations, officials, procurement specialists and representatives of foreign companies.
But it was here that the main paradox emerged.
Unlike their competitors, the Ukrainian manufacturers could demonstrate their technologies but could not sell them.
Although it was nearly a year ago that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the opening up of arms exports, only a handful of companies have received permits. Manufacturers went through all the circles of hell in Ukrainian bureaucracy only to be met with refusal, usually without any explanation.
So the issue of exports has long been a key concern for the entire Ukrainian defence market.
Last week Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers approved a new procedure for the export of defence-related products and presented it as the effective opening up of Ukrainian exports.
However, when the resolution was officially published on 7 July, it became clear that the new mechanism not only fails to resolve many of the existing problems, it also creates a number of new ones.
Nevertheless, many of the market participants surveyed by Ukrainska Pravda responded positively to the resolution. It's not perfect, but for the first time in years, the process of finding a workable export model has at least moved out of the doldrums.