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15.11.2026 14:27

Dutch defense company Artillerie Inrichtingen Armaments (AIA) has opened an office in Ukraine and plans to launch engineering operations, with a view to establishing a production facility in the western part of the country in the future.

The company is interested in cooperating with Ukrainian businesses, particularly on the joint production of air defense systems, according to Ukrinform’s correspondent in The Hague.

“I first started travelling to Ukraine in early 2023. Since then, I have been visiting every two months. We are also actively involved in the Dutch Task Force Ukraine. Over the past few years, we have already supplied a considerable amount of products to Ukraine.

We are now also looking for partners among Ukrainian companies. That is why we have opened an office in Ukraine. Ultimately, we want to start with engineering activities and, in the longer term, establish a production facility, perhaps somewhere in the west of the country.

We want to manufacture products together with Ukraine, primarily for air defense. I was in Kyiv in recent weeks and saw what happens there every day. But Kyiv is not all of Ukraine: the situation is even more difficult in other regions, especially when it comes to heavy weapons.

That is why we are looking for ways to help Ukraine develop relevant products and scale up their production,” Gerard Zondervan, founder and CEO of Artillerie Inrichtingen Armaments (AIA), told Ukrinform.

Gerard Zondervan

He also added: “This has now become personal. When you travel to Ukraine every two months, everything becomes personal.

Many people have asked me: ‘Why do you go there? There is a war going on.’ Yes, but we have been there from the very beginning. And we will stay until the end. The people I meet there have become my friends, practically my family.

That is the personal connection. We are currently implementing a project with the Dutch Ministry of Defense under which we are testing our products. If the tests are successful, the ministry will be able to sign long-term contracts to supply these products to Ukraine.”

Zondervan noted that his company had already supplied Ukraine with a substantial amount of weapons. According to him, its own contribution to supporting Ukraine has exceeded EUR 100 million since 2023.

(C)UKRINFORM 2026