The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine voted to adopt two bills that provide tax and customs benefits for companies producing drones with fiber-optic control. Bills No. 13305 and No. 13306 were supported on June 4, marking an important step for the development of the country’s defense industry.
This is reported by Finway
Essence of the Legislative Innovations
Bill No. 13306 exempts the import of a range of goods necessary for the production of such drones, including optical fibers, fiber-optic bundles, and other fiber-optic cables, from value-added tax when brought into Ukraine. These benefits will be in effect during the state of martial law and apply to goods intended for security and defense needs. Bill No. 13305, in turn, also exempts these same goods from import duties.
“The Council supported our bills #13305 and 13306 on tax and customs benefits for manufacturers of fiber-optic controlled drones. Overall – 302 and 303,” wrote Yaroslav Zheleznyak, a member of parliament from the ‘Holos’ party, on his Telegram channel.
Impact on the Defense Sector and Prospects
The head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Taxation, and Customs Policy, Danilo Hetmantsev, emphasized that these legislative initiatives aim to create a favorable environment for the development and mass production of drones using optical cable. According to him, this will allow for the enhancement of domestic capabilities in the strategically important field of unmanned systems.
Since the end of 2024, Ukrainian military personnel have noted that Russia is actively using FPV drones with fiber-optic control channels, which pose a significant threat to Ukrainian equipment. In January 2025, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi, stated that Russian forces have increased the share of strike UAVs with fiber-optic control channels. At the same time, he emphasized that Ukrainian troops have also begun to use FPV drones with fiber-optic technology.
In April, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky highlighted the need for continuous growth in the production and supply of all components of unmanned systems to the army. In particular, he reported that 11 Ukrainian enterprises have already mastered the production of drones with fiber-optic control systems, underscoring the importance of the new legislative benefits for the industry.