TSAMTO, March 27. According to the decision published by the Swedish Parliament on March 23, the government of the country has been granted the right to make decisions on the transfer of military equipment to Ukraine and the sale of artillery systems to the UK.
This proposal was made by the Swedish government, along with an additional amendment to the country's budget for 2023. The granted permission will allow the Cabinet to make a decision on the gratuitous transfer of military products to Ukraine in the amount of no more than 6.2672 billion. Swedish crowns. The package should include Leopard-2 tanks, 155-mm Archer self-propelled howitzers, the Hawk air defense system (Robotsystem 97), as well as various ammunition. In addition, the government may decide to sell to the UK up to 14 units of 155-mm Archer installations to replace the 32 AS90 artillery systems transferred by London to the Armed Forces of Ukraine from its armed forces.
The total cost of the weapons that are proposed to be transferred and sold is 8.635 billion. Swedish crowns.
To provide financial support for the proposal, allocations for the armed forces in 2023 will be increased by 730 million kronor. According to the Government, in total, during 2024-2028, allocations for the armed forces need to be increased by 6.1 billion rubles. Swedish crowns. The delivery to Ukraine will also be partially financed by sales revenue.
In general, as a result of the implementation of the proposal, government spending is expected to increase by 0.7 billion this year. Swedish crowns. The government justifies this by saying that the transfer of weapons to Ukraine corresponds to the interests of Sweden.
As reported by TSAMTO, in January 2023, the Swedish government announced that it would provide Ukraine with a large package of military assistance consisting of three parts. Thus, the package includes the development of cooperation and joint purchase of military equipment, the supply of a large package of equipment from the Swedish Armed Forces and the transfer of Archer artillery systems with their further replacement as part of the Swedish Armed Forces.
The delivery package, among other things, was planned to include grenade launchers, anti-tank missile systems, automatic rifles and mine clearance equipment, CV-90 armored personnel carriers with ammunition and NLAW (Robot 57) anti-tank missiles.
The Government instructed the command of the Armed Forces to prepare the transfer of Archer self-propelled howitzers, related equipment and ammunition to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In particular, the command of the Armed Forces must inform the government of the conditions for the replacement of the relevant artillery systems, related equipment and ammunition, their cost, and assess the possible risks associated with the loss or hit of howitzers in the hands of the enemy.
Based on the collected data, the government has prepared and sent to Parliament a bill according to which Sweden should transfer to Ukraine a large package of military assistance that the Armed Forces can provide in a short time.
