“If we talk about components for FPV [first-person view] drones, Ukraine produces flight controllers and cameras,” Khrapchynskyi said.
“That said, it's still cheaper to buy some components in China.”
He said a state program should subsidize localization of production.
“It’s not surprising that the head of Rheinmetall [Armin Paperer] said Ukraine is significantly dependent on certain components from China. Problems in China that limit the ability to send components to Ukraine also affect us.”
Khrapchynskyi said Ukrainian firms have produced some technologies thanks to the deregulation and can make many components domestically. Still, buying Chinese parts lets producers scale up faster.
“We should also look at this another way: we have room to improve our capabilities,” he said.
“You can talk about expanding certain capacities, for example by lowering taxes or giving incentives to makers of small parts needed for interceptor drones, FPV systems and strike UAVs."
He credited large Ukrainian companies with building networks
of small firms and startups that helped localize production and provided tools
to scale quickly. At the same time, he said, long-term contracts with some
Chinese manufacturers continue to help Ukraine obtain needed components.