(MENAFN- UkrinForm) Ukraine needs to develop a state policy on gunpowder production in order to effectively develop the military-industrial complex.

Secretary of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security, Defense and Intelligence, Colonel Roman Kostenko ('Holos' faction), said in an interview with Ukrinform.

He noted that today the domestic military-industrial complex covers "an insufficient percentage" of the needs of the Defense Forces.

"If we are talking about artillery... For example, there is a projectile and a shot. A shot consists of a projectile, a gunpowder charge, an explosive and a fuze. In fact, we can only make shells without the explosive. We can fill it with explosives. But gunpowder is a problem for the whole world. If we don't have it, if we don't find it or produce it, if we make only shells without the explosive that can only be delivered and dropped by drones, it will not fly anywhere. We need to produce gunpowder on our own. There must be an appropriate state policy," the secretary of the parliamentary committee emphasized.

Kostenko emphasized that Ukraine needs to open high-tech enterprises that will produce components for the production of gunpowder, as well as a plant where these components will be mixed.

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"Until we learn how to do this on our own, we cannot talk about any independence of the Ukrainian military-industrial complex," he emphasized.

As reported, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said that in order to successfully implement the defense production strategy, Ukraine is looking for financing solutions and engages Western partners in this process.

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