KYIV, Ukraine – Ukraine’s newly appointed head of defense industry says he is working tirelessly to ramp up local arms production and wants to turn the country into a weapons production hub for the West.
CEO of Ukrainian Railways and Ukrainian Minister of Strategic Industries Oleksandr Kamyshin looks on during a meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, not pictured, during a CEO Roundtable Event on Ukraine Economic Recovery in New York City, September 20, 2023, on the sidelines of the 78th United Nations General Assembly.
He previously worked as the chief of the national railway Ukrzaliznytsia, which under his rule, became famous for keeping trains running on time despite the war, crucial to evacuating hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians to safety in the early days of Russia’s invasion. Artillery ammunition production has increased by 20 times in the last 10 months, and armored vehicle production has grown by five times during the same period, he said.