POSSIBILITIES OF FINANCIAL LEASING FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE DEFENSE-INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX OF UKRAINE IN RESPONSE TO THE CHALLENGES AND THREATS OF A FULL-SCALE WAR

During the war, the Ukrainian defense industry undergoes transformational changes, increases its capacity and shows readiness for modern technological innovations, exhibits high flexibility and adaptability. All this lays a solid foundation for its further long-term development. At the same time, the importance of stable long-term financing of the defense industry remains unchanged. Among the sources of such financing, financial leasing occupies a separate position. The article identifies development problems and new challenges facing the defense-industrial complex of Ukraine during a full-scale war, including a chronic lack of long-term financing for the renewal of production capacities, conducting scientific research, and developing critical technologies for the development and production of high-tech weapons in accordance with modern technological trends and the needs of national defense. The results of state support and intergovernmental initiatives to attract financing for increasing the capacities of the defense-industrial complex in priority areas are analyzed. The essence, regulatory framework and institutional infrastructure of financial leasing are revealed, as well as the features of regulation and supervision of activities in the financial leasing market. An analysis of the number of participants in the non-bank financial services market was conducted, and trends in the dynamics of the activity of financial companies by the volume of financial services provided (leasing, factoring, loans, guarantees) during 2021-2024 were identified. Adaptive response measures of financial companies of Ukraine regarding the provision of financial leasing in war conditions and international financial organizations regarding insurance of war risks were characterized. It was concluded that despite the challenges and threats of war, financial leasing has the potential and remains a viable tool for attracting long-term financing for enterprises of the defense-industrial complex. Potential opportunities were substantiated, advantages and challenges of financial leasing were identified with an emphasis on the basis of the needs for strengthening and developing the Ukrainian defense-industrial complex. It is concluded that the priority of purchasing domestically produced military equipment under financial leasing provides not only operational advantages, such as fast delivery times, competitive prices, the ability to organize training and maintenance, but also allows to strengthen the economic sustainability of the defense industry. At the same time, it is useful to borrow foreign experience in using leasing mechanisms to attract investments and finance defense purchases. Within the framework of international leasing contracts, localization of production of certain types of military equipment with the involvement of Ukrainian defense industry enterprises may be provided. In this way, they will be able to modernize their own production facilities, harmonize international defense standards, which will significantly increase the competitiveness of the defense industry on the world market. Thanks to this, not only will Ukraine's defense capability be strengthened, but its position as an important player in the global defense community will also be strengthened.