AMSTERDAM — Denmark will allocate €830 million ($935 million) to the Ukrainian defense industry in 2025 on behalf of the European Union, using windfall profits from frozen Russian assets to buy Ukraine-made weapons.
The Danish Ministry of Defence and the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, signed an agreement giving Denmark the role as implementing actor for the disbursement of a large portion of the windfall profits this year, the ministry said in a statement on Friday.
The Danes have been frontrunners in investing Western military aid in Ukraine’s defense manufacturing, using funds to buy locally produced weapons rather than foreign equipment through what is known as the Danish model.
“Denmark has taken the lead in the international efforts to strengthen defense production in Ukraine,” Minister of Defence Troels Lund Poulsen said. “It is a recognition of Denmark’s efforts on this matter that the EU has decided to channel even more funds through us this year.”
The windfall profits this year will be used for donations of supplies including ammunition, air defense and military equipment produced in the Ukrainian defense industry, the Ministry of Defence said.
Last year’s equipment purchases using the Danish model included Bohdana howitzers, long-range drones, anti-tank and anti-ship missile systems.
Buying Ukrainian strengthens the embattled country’s production capacity, ensures competitive prices, and enables faster adaptation to the Ukrainian needs, the ministry said.
“This provides obvious logistical advantages while also contributing to building Ukraine’s defense industry for the future,” Lund Poulsen said. “We are now able to do this on an even larger scale.”
Denmark last year allocated around €400 million of windfall profits from Russian assets on behalf of the EU, using the Danish model.
Total funding channeled via the model amounted to around 4.4 billion Danish kroner ($664 million) in 2024, with contributions from the Danish Ukraine fund, allies, and the EU, according to the ministry. Denmark expects to implement more than double that amount through the model in 2025, the MoD said.
Denmark will allocate aid to Ukraine on behalf of several countries, including Norway, Sweden, Iceland and Canada.
Rudy Ruitenberg is a Europe correspondent for Defense News. He started his career at Bloomberg News and has experience reporting on technology, commodity markets and politics.
