The Czech Republic remains steadfast in its commitment the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. After the large-scale invasion of Ukraine by russia, the Czech Republic became one of the most important European allies of Ukraine.  In the third year of military aggression, Prague has been providing Kyiv with strong military, financial and humanitarian assistance.    

During the war, the Czech Republic transferred 12 cargoes of humanitarian aid to Ukraine totalling about 45 tonnes, including current and voltage transformers, passenger cars, and other equipment and facilities necessary for reconstruction work at locations affected by russian attacks. The Czech side is also interested in implementing projects related to the recovery and development of the Ukrainian energy sector, in particular in the field of wind and solar energy. Many Czech companies are already cooperating with Ukrainian firms and are eager to take part in rebuilding Ukraine not only after the war, but also now, during the current military operations.

The Czech Republic will donate around 60 million CZK (€2.5 million) to the NATO Trust Fund for non-military assistance to Ukraine. This includes medical materials, food, fuel, winter clothing and drone defence systems. Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, the Czech Republic has contributed €1.28 million from the Ministry of Defence budget, as well as €1 million and €6 million from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and more than €1 million that was previously allocated from the now-cancelled NATO fund for the Afghan National Army.

The Czech Republic has agreed with Denmark and the Netherlands to supply Czech military aid to Ukraine with their financial support. In particular, it includes the supply of additional tanks, howitzers, small arms, infantry fighting vehicles, air defence equipment, electronic warfare equipment or ammunition from Czech defence companies. The first project will be the transfer of 15 modernised T-72EA tanks to Ukraine. The Czech Republic already has experience with a similar model of cooperation. It has already transferred 45 modernised T-72 tanks to Ukraine as part of a project with the United States and the Netherlands.

The Czech government’s military assistance to Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale russian invasion has already amounted to CZK 10 billion (€422 million), and the Czech defence industry has sent weapons for another CZK 30 billion (€1.27 billion). This included modern and Soviet equipment and ammunition.

Prague found 800,000 rounds of ammunition outside the EU, more than half of which were 155 mm shells worth ~$2 billion.  The Czech initiative has been joined by 18 states.

Czech corporation Czechoslovak Group plans to build a defence plant in Ukraine. Negotiations with the state-owned Ukroboronprom on the establishment of a joint venture are currently underway, and suitable sites are being examined for the production of artillery and tank shells, as well as heavy machinery. This is not the first cooperation. During the full-scale invasion, the company has already repaired and upgraded T-72 tanks in the Czech Republic and supplied them to Ukraine.

The Lower House of the Czech Parliament has approved the Government’s proposal to continue training Ukrainian soldiers in the country in 2024. Since the beginning of the war, about 3,500 Ukrainian soldiers have already been trained in the Czech Republic, and another 500 have been trained by the Czech instructors in Poland.

On 29 April 2023, Czech President Petr Pavel, during his official trip to Ukraine, visited Dnipropetrovsk region. He attended a dormitory at a vocational school that has provided shelter to Ukrainian citizens from the hostilities. The Czech President also paid tribute to the memory of the Dnipro residents who were killed by a russian missile on January 14. 

Thanks to the support of the First Secretary of the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Ukraine, Mr Ladislav Horak, the region has been receiving humanitarian aid on a regular basis, including hospital beds for the hospital in Novomoskovsk, diesel generators for Kryvyi Rih, Marhanets and Nikopol, virtual reality equipment for City Hospital №16, and ambulances for Dnipro. In addition, the National Aviation University and the State Vocational Education and Training Institution Dnipro Vocational Education Centre have also received financial assistance.

On January 30, 2024, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Czech Republic to Ukraine, Radek Pech, visited Dnipropetrovsk region as part of the development of partnerships with the country that has taken on the role of coordinator for the restoration of our region. This was the first visit of the Czech diplomat after his appointment as the Ambassador of the Czech Republic to Ukraine at the end of 2023. During a meeting at the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Council, Mykola Lukashuk expressed his gratitude to the Czech Government and the Czech people for their support of the Dnipropetrov’k region and their willingness to work cooperatively to rebuild Ukraine. In addition, he noted the economic cooperation between the Dnipropetrovsk region and the Czech Republic, which did not stop during the full-scale military invasion of Ukraine by the aggressor country. There are still 20 Czech companies operating in the region, which have invested $11.9 million in the region’s economy.

Supporting the initiative of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the international model of regional recovery, the Czech Republic is developing cooperation with Dnipropetrovsk region. In 2024, it is planned to deepen the region’s cooperation with the Czech Republic, primarily in the following priority areas: healthcare, water supply and sewerage, education, and economic cooperation. 

The Czech Republic remains an important commercial partner of Dnipropetrovsk region. The high level of partnership is evidenced by the bilateral analysis of foreign trade. Czech enterprises are most interested in ores, ferrous metals and products made thereof, parts of railway equipment, etc. According to the results of 2023, the volume of exports of goods from Dnipropetrovsk region totalled $338.1 million and decreased by 27.4% compared to 2022. Exports to the Czech Republic accounted for 7.2% of the region’s total exports.

112 companies in the Dnipropetrovsk region exported their products to the Czech market, including mining and metals companies, machine-building, processing and agricultural companies.

Imports of goods from the Czech Republic to Dnipropetrovsk region increased by 18.3% compared to 2022 and amounted to $90.1 million.

256 importers from the region bought machinery and equipment, plastics and polymeric materials, ferrous metal products, etc.

Import operations were mainly carried out by food and processing companies, trade and pharmaceutical companies.   

Source: information for the article was taken from open online sources