Since the first day of Russian aggression, the Czech Republic has been actively helping Ukraine with weapons and heavy equipment, medical supplies, raising funds and accumulating resources to accommodate internally displaced people from Ukraine. Since the beginning of the war, the country has donated about $2 billion in military equipment and supplies to the Ukrainian armed forces. Currently, the Czech Republic is among the TOP 5 largest suppliers of weapons to Ukraine. Self-propelled howitzers, tanks, APCs and other assistance have already helped the Ukrainian army to liberate territories.
The Czech government has approved the Humanitarian, Stabilisation, Reconstruction and Economic Assistance Programme for 2023-2025 in the amount of over $20 million annually, which is aimed at compensating war damage, assisting internally displaced persons, demining and reconstructing critical infrastructure. During the visit of the Czech government delegation to Dnipropetrovsk region, it was decided to become a partner in the post-war reconstruction of the region under this programme.
The Czech Republic fully supports aspirations of Ukraine for European integration and demonstrates consistent support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, bilaterally and in multilateral formats, including within the EU, NATO, Council of Europe, and OSCE. The Czech Republic has joined all EU sanctions against russia and is a regular co-author of resolutions in the UN General Assembly.
The country has sent two combined heat and power plants to Kharkiv region, 10 diesel generators for hospitals and water supply in Kyiv, Dnipro and Lviv regions, and 500 heaters for personal use worth $2.16 million. The Czech Republic is also supplying fully equipped insulated housing containers worth $2.7 million to western and central Ukraine and mobile intensive care units worth $1.1 million to the Ministry of Health of Ukraine.
At the beginning of October, the Czech Republic hosted an event organised by representatives of the Czech project Gift for Putin. This civic project raises funds for weapons for Ukraine to help it withstand a full-scale russian invasion. Under the slogan “A Gift from the Czech Republic!”, more than $1.31 million was raised. This sum includes the cost of a modernised T-72 Avenger tank and its delivery to Ukraine.
In addition, the Armed Forces of Ukraine are using T-72 tanks on the battlefield, which were delivered from the Czech Republic as part of the state’s assistance. The AFU is also armed with Czech 12.7 mm Falcon sniper rifles.
The Czech Republic accepts wounded Ukrainian servicemen for treatment and rehabilitation, including 15 who have already undergone treatment and 4 who are still in Czech medical facilities. The Czech Republic also assists with military training on its territory.
The Czech Republic will continue to support Ukraine in its fight against the russian occupiers by supplying weapons and ammunition to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The Czech Republic is one of the key partners of Dnipropetrovsk region. The dynamics of investment, export and import operations demonstrate a high level of economic cooperation.
Dnipropetrovsk Investment Agency DIA, together with the Dnipropetrovsk Chamber of Commerce and Industry, actively promotes bilateral business relations, including the organisation of bilateral business forums in Brno and Dnipro, participation in the International Machine Building Fair MSV in 2019 and 2022, and meetings of regional leaders. In particular, as part of the MSV 2022 International Machine Building Fair, the Ukrainian Business Day Conference was held, during which DIA presented the economic and investment potential of the region, the Investment Guide and the catalogue of investment projects of the region.
Both sides were keenly interested in deepening trade and economic cooperation, and the speech of the delegation from Dnipropetrovsk region expanded the network of friendly bilateral contacts. The Czech representatives demonstrated their interest in strengthening relations with the region, as it has not only managed to withstand all the challenges of the war, but has also become economically stronger in certain spheres.
As a result of our participation in the MSV International Machine-Building Fair, which is already a traditional for our region, agreements were signed with metallurgical companies of the region for product supply.
Further cooperation between the region and the Czech Republic is ongoing and only deepening, as the Czech Republic is one of the EU countries most interested in the recovery and development of the Dnipropetrovsk region and the whole of Ukraine.
There are 22 Czech companies operating in the region, which have invested $11.2 million in the region’s economy. Among them are the following:
The Czech Republic ranks 4th among exporters from Dnipropetrovsk region and 5th in imports of goods among EU countries.
In 2022, despite the military aggression of the russian federation, the volume of exports from Dnipropetrovsk region decreased by only 9.5% ($465.9 million), which accounted for 7.5% of the total volume of exports from the region. The most popular goods among Czech consumers are iron ores, ferrous metals and products, railway locomotive parts, etc.
TOP 10 products exported by Dnipropetrovsk region include:
Export operations were carried out by 108 companies from Dnipropetrovsk region.
The main exporting companies are enterprises of the mining and metallurgical complex and the processing industry.
TOP-5 exporting companies (ranked by volume of exported products):
Imports of goods from the Czech Republic to Dnipropetrovsk region amounted to $76.1 million (1.9% of total imports of goods from the region) and decreased by 1.9% compared to 2021. Traditionally, Dnipropetrovsk region purchased oil and oil products, plastics and polymers, machinery and equipment, ferrous metal products, etc.
The most popular products among the region’s entrepreneurs are the following:
Import operations were carried out by 255 importer companies.
TOP-5 importers (ranked by volume of imported products):
Import operations were mainly carried out by metallurgical enterprises, machine-building, processing and trade companies.
Source: Information for this article was taken from open online sources and the website of the Main Department of Statistics in Dnipropetrovsk region.
