TFUA study: what manufacturers say about procurement channels, exports, relocation and interaction with the state

Last week, the Tech Force in UA (TFUA) held their annual presentation, where they shared the results of a members’ survey. A total of 35 companies participated anonymously. Defender Media highlights the most interesting findings.

Procurement channels

As of October 2025, the most common procurement channels for manufacturers are: direct contracts with military units (80%), closed purchases through authorised defence procurers (54%), municipal purchases (46%), international programmes (29%), joint ventures (11%), and procurement via Prozorro / Prozorro Market (6%).

Relocation and exports

Since the previous survey six months ago, the share of TFUA member manufacturers planning or having already relocated has dropped from 85% to 51%. According to TFUA Executive Director Kateryna Mykhalko, this may be linked to recent announcements about the launch of controlled defence exports.

The main reason for relocating defence manufacturers abroad remains security risks — cited by 89% of respondents. Other factors include the inability to export products (61%), low volumes of state orders despite higher production capacity (56%), and the inability to export technologies (also 56%).

The most attractive relocation destinations are Poland, the Czech Republic, and the United States.

The opening of export channels could prevent many companies from relocating abroad.

Cooperation with the state

According to Kateryna Mykhalko, the industry has positively received the government’s green light for opening defence exports. This is supported by another survey indicator: 56% of manufacturers now see proactive government steps to improve the business climate in the defence sector, compared to 38% at the beginning of the year.

The survey also asked companies whether bureaucratic barriers in state procurement had decreased compared to 2024 — such as document volume, approvals, and coordination with relevant authorities. 48% of respondents said the barriers had slightly decreased, while 34% said they remained unchanged.

At the end of August, Defender Media published a report from TFUA’s Lviv event, Joint Ventures, Joint Defence.