The arms giant disclosed how many shells Ukraine received under the Czech initiative and their cost
Bohdana air defense system (Illustrative photo: Mark Claus Rassmussen / EPA)

Under the "Czech initiative" to supply Ukraine with artillery shells at the expense of its partners Kyiv has received several million rounds of ammunition worth billions of dollars. About this in an interview with LIGA.net said Jan Hamacek, director of External Relations at Czechoslovak Group (CSG), a Czech defense company.

"As for the CSG, we delivered 1.5 million shells in 2024, and 1.2 million in 2025 (as of today). In total, 3.7 million rounds of ammunition have been transferred to Ukraine as part of the Czech initiative. The financial value is between 4 billion and 4.5 billion euros," he said.

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Hamachek also explained how this initiative came about: as of February 2024, Kyiv faced an "extreme shortage of large-caliber ammunition" – at one point, the ratio of Russian and Ukrainian shells was 10 to 1.

"The Czech Republic, in particular the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, started looking for a solution. The idea came from the Ministry of Defense, which turned to Czech private companies to see if they could help. And our company CSG offered its resources. We were able to conduct a global search for potential suppliers, compile a list of available ammunition and coordinate with the governments of countries such as the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany, which provided funding," the company representative explained.

As for why CSG joined the project, Hamacek noted that they are the largest defense company in the country with a long history and access to global markets: "The demand was so high that there was no competition – any company with access to ammunition could help."

In general, at least five companies from the Czech Republic took part in this initiative, but CSG's share is the largest, Hamacek said.

"This has become one of the most successful examples of Western support for Ukraine," he concluded.

  • Read more about how much military cooperation costs, why CSG is facing scandals, and how the purchase of factories in the United States will affect the supply of weapons to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, – read in the interview on LIGA.net.