Romanian president explains difficulty of joint drone production with Ukraine

Romanian President Nicușor Dan has said that the joint drone production project with Ukraine on Romanian territory is at the stage of technical discussions, and the main challenge is choosing equipment that will not become obsolete in a few months.

Source: European Pravda, citing Digi24

Details: During a press conference on Tuesday, Nicușor Dan was asked what stage the joint drone production project with Ukraine is at.

Dan said that the main challenge is choosing suitable equipment in an industry where technologies are developing so rapidly that models purchased now could become obsolete within a few months.

Quote: "These are ongoing negotiations, conducted on the Romanian side by the Ministry of Defence, and on the Ukrainian side also by the Ministry of Defence and several companies. These are technical discussions, and without going into classified details, the main difficulty – which does not apply only to us – lies in what exactly to purchase so that it does not become obsolete in four or six months…

This is the exact technical problem our specialists are facing, and they have never encountered it before, as they are used to buying tanks, aircraft – equipment with a service life of 20, 30 or 40 years. That is the current situation."

Details: The president was also asked whether a timeline for the start of drone production has been set. "I will not name specific deadlines right now, but the funds are available, and it is important for both Romania and Ukraine that this equipment appears as soon as possible," Dan added.

Background:

• On 12 March, President Nicușor Dan, together with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, signed two official documents laying the foundation for the development of large-scale, mutually beneficial projects in the energy and industrial sectors.
• In July 2026, Ukraine and the European Union agreed a defence-industrial agreement known as the Drone Deal aimed at "providing a single, coherent framework for cooperation between the EU and Ukraine to facilitate, coordinate and support" the full implementation of drone agreements that Kyiv has signed with several EU capitals.
• On 4 October, Zelenskyy said that Ukraine and Germany were preparing an agreement on drones.

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