Türkiye’s Baykar to build drone factory in Ukraine: Envoy

ANKARA

Turkish company Baykar, which produces “Bayraktars” attack drones, is currently in the process of building a factory on Ukrainian territory, according to Ukraine’s ambassador to Türkiye, Vasyl Bodnar.

In an interview with RBC Ukraine published on Aug. 8, Bodnar said that Baykar has already created a company in Ukraine and that a factory, which was rumored to be under construction before the beginning of the Russian invasion in late February, is still in development.

“The factory will be built. Just a week ago, the government approved the bilateral agreement and sent it to the parliament for ratification, the agreement on the construction of the plant itself,” the diplomat said.

“Baykar has already purchased a plot of land in Ukraine and developed the project for the plant.”

Bodnar added that the decision to build a factory in Ukraine wasn’t just political.

“It is also practical since a significant number of the models that will be produced at this plant will have Ukrainian components in their production,” Bodnar told RBC Ukraine.

“It can be engines, other spare parts, wheels, many different things that are high-tech in our country and can be used for these aircraft,” the envoy said.

“The field of defense technology is one of the drivers of the Türkiye-Ukraine relation,” he added.

In total, Ukraine has received 50 armed drones from Baykar since the beginning of the conflict on Feb. 24, according to Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov, three of which were donated by the company to Kiev.