EU Delivers 980,000 Out Of Promised 1 million Shells to Ukraine

EU countries have handed over 980,000 shells to Ukraine, out of the 1 million rounds of ammunition promised in March 2023.

This was announced by the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, in an interview with European Pravda.

“We have almost done it. We have already delivered more than 980,000 shells, and very soon we will deliver 1 million shells. I know that we committed ourselves to reach this level by spring and we failed. But by the end of the year we will be able to. And we have accelerated our efforts for this purpose,” he said.

In addition, according to him, a lot of ammunition was supplied to Ukraine under bilateral agreements with member states and Ukraine, as well as under the Czech initiative.

In total, by the end of the year, EU countries will have supplied more than 1.5 million rounds of ammunition to Ukraine.

Reasons for the backlog

The problem with the transfer of shells lies primarily in the overestimation of the EU’s production capacity.

According to the diplomat, if the EU manages to reach “cruising speed” in 2025, they will be able to continue to supply Ukraine with the same amount of ammunition as this year.

“When we promised to reach the level of 1 million shells per year by spring, we did not know what the real production capacity was, and it was not as high as we thought. Now we already have this production capacity,” Josep Borrell explained.

An investigation by a consortium of Ukrainian and European journalists has revealed that the European Union has overestimated its capacity to produce 155mm artillery shells, doubling the projected output. This has put at risk the agreement to supply the shells to Ukraine.

Despite the European Commission’s statements in March 2024 that its work had brought European capacity to produce 155-mm shells to 1 million rounds per year at the beginning of the year, the actual production capacity, according to Rheinmetall’s estimates as of January 2024, was 550,000 rounds per year.

This information coincides with the Estonian Ministry of Defense’s public report made in December 2023. The report estimates the EU’s production capacity at about 600,000 rounds per year.

According to representatives of arms companies, the problem lies in the global shortage of gunpowder and explosives. It is also a lack of funds to finance the industry, as Western governments are reluctant to sign long-term contracts with the industry.