In 2026, Ukraine may receive €28.3 billion from the European Union for weapons procurement. This is the largest portion of the EU’s major €90 billion loan package. The funds are allocated against specific contracts with suppliers. However, as Eurointegration found out, as of late July a significant share of this amount has still not reached Ukrainian manufacturers due to delays on Ukraine’s part in preparing contractual documentation.
How Much Weapons Funding Ukraine Has Received
Of the €90 billion total support package for 2026–2027, Ukraine had received €8.1 billion as of late July, of which €4.9 billion was earmarked for weapons. That is less than a quarter of the €28.3 billion planned for weapons procurement this year, with only five months remaining until year’s end.
Importantly, these funds are not tied to reform implementation. They are disbursed against properly executed legal contracts with weapons suppliers. The bulk of the funding goes toward drones. The first drone procurement schedule for Ukrainian-made drones envisaged €6 billion.
Journalists recorded the delay in disbursing this amount as early as June: the Ukrainian side was late in submitting drone procurement contracts to the European Commission for review, and the volume of documentation — 250 contracts running to thousands of pages, some of which had not yet been finalized at the time of submission — proved too large for prompt verification.
As a result, on 30 June, the last day before the promised deadline, the EU was only able to transfer €3.9 billion of the €6 billion. A further €1 billion arrived on 15 July. As of late July, €1.1 billion for drones remained unpaid precisely due to a lack of properly executed documents.
The second drone schedule — a further €6 billion — is also currently unspent: the EU does not have a sufficient pool of verified contracts. A technical obstacle has also emerged: some Ukrainian manufacturers, in an effort to cut costs, use Chinese components. At the same time, EU rules prohibit financing contracts in which the share of components originating outside the EU, Ukraine, or approved partner countries exceeds 35% of the value.
In total, out of the €12 billion planned across the two drone schedules, more than €7.1 billion has not been disbursed.
Missiles, Gripen, and the Patriot Queue
The third schedule, worth €1.5 billion, has already been submitted to the EU and covers medium- and long-range missiles for strikes against facilities of the Russian defense-industrial complex. These will be produced by a joint venture between Ukraine and one of the EU member states.
The fourth schedule, worth €2.5 billion, is designated for Swedish Gripen fighter jets. Ukraine is to allocate €2.5 billion from the EU loan to purchase the first 20 Gripen E/F fighters, while Sweden will additionally transfer 16 C/D-variant aircraft free of charge as part of bilateral aid. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has stated his intention to eventually acquire all 150 aircraft covered by the framework agreement of October 2025.
The remaining €12.3 billion for weapons in 2026 has not yet been allocated to specific schedules. In particular, the fifth procurement schedule is tentatively being prepared for air defense systems: missiles for American Patriot batteries.
Why the Funds Are Not Arriving Faster
No formal obstacles remain on Brussels’ side following the lifting of Hungary’s veto in the spring. The only thing currently holding back weapons payments is the speed and quality of contractual documentation being prepared by the Ukrainian side. Journalists established that some of the drone contracts existed only as drafts at the time of submission deadlines, rather than as finalized agreements.
