Slovakia gives priority to arms supplies to Ukraine

Slovakia will give priority to any further arms supplies to Ukraine.

Therefore, it postponed the delivery of eight Zuzana 2 howitzers to the Slovak armed forces, Slovakia-based Aktuality news agency reports, referring to the press secretary of the Ministry of Defence of Slovakia Martina Kova-Kakashchikova.

“It is impossible to determine the time when the remaining eight Zuzana 2 howitzers will be delivered to the Armed Forces of the Slovak Republic, because if there are further orders for Ukraine, we will give priority to them,” she said.

The purchase of 25 Zuzana 2 howitzers was approved by the government in 2018 during the tenure of Defence Minister Peter Gajdoš. The delivery date has been postponed several times due to the pandemic. The last eight units were originally to be delivered by mid-December 2022.

This week, Konstruktsiya Oborony, a state joint-stock company run by the Ministry of Defence, signed a contract for the commercial sale of eight Zuzana 2 howitzers to Ukraine.

Defence Minister Yaroslav Nad highly appreciated the contract, which provides Konstruktsiya Oborony with opportunities for further growth.

He considers this a great success for the Slovak defence industry.

The Zuzana 2 self-propelled gun-howitzer is an autonomous self-loading artillery weapon system capable of providing the required fire impact to support troops in ground operations.