EU will be able to produce 1.3 million shells by the end of 2024, says European Commissioner

Tallinn, Estonia (Svidomi) — European Commissioner for Internal Market and Industry Thierry Breton said the EU would be able to produce 1.3 million shells by the end of 2024 as the EU faces the dual challenge of providing military assistance to Ukraine and replenishing its own stockpiles.

Breton says the priority is to ensure that the majority of artillery shells produced by European companies are destined for Ukraine.

"We will continue to improve our production capacity, probably [produce] about 1.3-1.4 million [shells] by the end of this year, and continue to increase it significantly next year," he said during the press conference. 

Current production figures are confidential.

In March 2023, the EU approved a plan to produce one million shells a year. On November 10, Bloomberg reported that the EU was unlikely to deliver all the promised 1 million artillery shells to Ukraine by the March 2024 deadline.