Ukraine names new head of state weapons company to push reforms, lift supplies

Herman Smetanin, who has been serving as head of Kharkiv Malyshev Plant in northeast Ukraine, has been appointed as the new general director of Ukroboronprom.

The Ukrainian government appointed a new head of state-owned weapons producer Ukroboronprom on Wednesday as Kyiv seeks to boost domestic weapons production and increase transparency.

Rescuers and volunteers work to rescue people from under the rubble after a Russian missile strike hit a restaurant and several houses in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine, on June 27, 2023. (AFP)

The appointment of Herman Smetanin, who has been serving as head of the Kharkiv Malyshev Plant in northeast Ukraine, as the new general director of Ukroboronprom is part of a broader transformation of the key industry, officials said.

Ukraine, which has been fighting Russian forces since Moscow began its full-scale invasion in February 2022, depends heavily on Western military aid and weapons supplies.

"The newly appointed general director faces three main tasks: to increase the production of ammunition and military equipment, build an effective anti-corruption infrastructure in the company, and transform Ukroboronprom," said Oleksander Kamyshyn, Minister for Ukraine's Strategic Industries.

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The government has been pushing for reforms in the domestic defence industry to modernise local producers, enabling them to cooperate closer with their Western partners and increase supplies to the front. Earlier this year the government announced plans to corporatise Ukroboronprom, improving transparency and corporate governance at the company.

Despite the war, constant shelling of its military production facilities and the need to move some plants to safer areas, Ukraine has been able to launch the production of new artillery shells. It has also agreed joint projects with central European producers to repair Ukrainian tanks and other vehicles, and has been working to develop drone and missile production.

Kamyshyn praised Smetanin, 31, as a young and progressive leader who quickly rose from being an engineer to head a huge company producing tanks and other armoured vehicles. Smetanin was born in Kharkiv, Ukraine's industrial centre in the east, and worked at several machine-building and tank plants.

"Together, we will be able to strengthen the defence industry, significantly increase the volume and pace of production and, as a result, make it an engine to drive the recovery of the country's economy," Kamyshyn said on the Telegram messaging app.