As part of the "shell initiative", Czech companies provided Ukraine with ammunition worth about 11.3 billion euros. This was announced on January 12 after a government meeting by Prime Minister Andrei Babish and Deputy Prime Minister Karel Havlicek.
According to Babish, the former government of Peter Fiala evasively answered questions about this project, hiding it in the budget of military intelligence. He also noted that the ruling parties are fulfilling their election promise without spending money from the Czech budget on this initiative. At the same time, Prague will continue to coordinate the project for other countries.
"We didn't know anything about the projectile initiative, they constantly hid it and hid it in the budget of military intelligence. It was not transparent," Babish described the actions of the previous government.
Babis also said that ministers from the ANO, SPD and Motorists parties have learned in recent weeks that 280 billion crowns, or about 11.3 billion euros, have passed through Czech companies as part of the initiative. According to him, the information came from Alyosha Vitechka, director of the Agency for Intergovernmental Defense Cooperation, which coordinates this initiative.
"The Czech budget secretly contributed 17.1 billion (more than 480 million euros — EADaily) to the armament, and all this was hidden, everything was top secret," the Czech Prime minister said..
Recall, before the parliamentary elections in the fall of 2025, Andrei Babish sharply criticized the "shell initiative" and promised to cancel it. As part of this project, the Czech Republic, attracting the resources of other countries, purchased shells for Ukraine all over the world. In early January, Babis said that Prague would continue to coordinate the initiative, but no funds from Czech citizens would be received there. Before last year's parliamentary elections, Babish promised to completely cancel the "shell initiative".
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