The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine and the Baykar Makina Turkish company have agreed to build a repair and maintenance service centre for unmanned aerial vehicles.

According to the press service of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, the agreement about the creation of a service centre for Turkish drones was signed within the framework of the intergovernmental agreement between Ukraine and Türkiye about cooperation in the sector of hi-tech, aircraft and space industries, which came into force in January 2023.

Ukraine’s Defence Ministry remarked that this step will significantly strengthen the cooperation between Kyiv and Ankara in the defence sector and will become a substantial contribution to the defence capacity of Ukraine, bringing its victory closer.

Kostiantyn Vashchenko, State Secretary of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence, stated that the repair and maintenance centre for Baykar drones will be created "in the nearest future".

The Turkish Baykar company obtained from authorities the licences necessary to manufacture Bayraktar TB2 and Akıncı drones in Ukraine in June 2023. Next month, the construction of the Bayraktar plant in Ukraine has begun.

Oleksii Reznikov, Minister of Defence of Ukraine, stated earlier that the drones that would be produced at the plant will be equipped with Ukrainian-produced engines. The training centre for Bayraktar operators of different categories will also be created.

In 2019, Baykar founded Avia Ventures with the goal of opening two plants in Ukraine.