§ Mrs. EwingTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what involvement the United Kingdom has in Ukrainian defence conversion projects; and if he will make a statement. [9409]
§ Sir Nicholas BonsorHer Majesty's Government support the conversion of the Ukrainian military industrial complex through multilateral programmes such as the 541W technical aid to the Commonwealth of Independent States—TACIS—programme of the European Union. A total of 5 million ecu has been budgeted to three defence conversion projects in Ukraine. In the 1992 budget, 1 million ecu was allocated to the setting up of an advisory company which was to assist military enterprises in the Kharkov area with defence conversion. Another 1 million ecu has been allocated to six companies from the MIC which are now producing agricultural equipment.
In the 1993 financial year, 3 million ecu was allocated to another six companies from the MIC.
British companies from the private sector are also active in this field. For example, a British-Ukrainian joint venture recently signed a contract with the Ukrainian Government for the conversion of a military shipyard to civilian use.
A feasibility study for this project received support from the UK know-how fund.