Czech ammunition supplier CSG has warned about the poor quality of shells destined for Ukraine, The Financial Times reports.
The conflict in Ukraine has contributed to a rise in ammunition prices. When the European Union realised that Europe had run out of shells to hand over to the Ukrainian armed forces, the Czech Republic offered to buy them from Asian and African countries. So far, 15 EU and NATO countries have already contributed 1.6 billion euros to purchase 1.5 million artillery shells.
The Czech government has asked the Czechoslovak Group (CSG) and other small Czech defence companies to act as intermediaries and supply shells from non-EU countries.
However, there were problems with the ammunition. About 50 per cent of the shells purchased from Asia and Africa were of poor quality. It will not be possible to send them to Ukraine without additional refinement, said CSG head and owner Michal Strnad said. He also added:
“Every week the price goes up, and there are big problems with the components.”
In addition, Strnad pointed out that NATO countries will have a long time to replenish their strategic arms stocks after the Ukrainian conflict is over.
On May 8, Czech President Petr Pavel said that Kyiv would receive 180,000 ammunition collected at Prague’s initiative in June. He acknowledged that the procurement is not moving as fast as the programme participants would like, but contracts have already been signed for deliveries that will be fulfilled after the June deliveries.
