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The second part of an exclusive interview of the second President of Ukraine (1994-2005) Leonid Kuchma with the Interfax-Ukraine agency

The first part of the interview

What do you see as the prospects for the post-war recovery of Ukraine's economy? To what extent, in your opinion, does Ukraine need to restore its industrial potential, which was badly damaged during the war? To what extent, in your opinion, is Ukraine able to restore its position in aircraft and rocket engineering?

They say that the deeper the crisis, the greater the opportunities. It is said as if about us now. Our industry is largely destroyed. We valued it very much, but let's be honest: to a large extent it was outdated and uncompetitive. At the same time, the civilized world is ready after the war to help restore our potential. The question is which one exactly?

Simply rebuilding what was destroyed would mean recreating and further deepening backwardness and non-competitiveness. Our chance is to use global investment and national strategy to create a new generation economy. And this is quite possible.

I see several promising areas for Ukraine's strategic move. These are information and intellectual technologies (IT+AI), aircraft industry (missiles, UAVs, etc.), green energy and the agricultural sector. We already have personnel, schools, experience, and traditions here. It is only necessary to create a modern production infrastructure, attract investments and enter foreign markets. Regarding the UAV industry, it is a discovery for me how quickly it is developing in our country and how broad are the prospects for the use of unmanned systems not only in war, but also in peaceful spheres of life. In this field, our specialists have already