In the current economic situation and due to growing inflation collecting the EUR 5 million needed to purchase a Bayraktar B2 UAV will take a very long time, but Ukraine needs aid now, authors of the initiative admit. This is why the decision has been made to divert donations towards the purchase of Latvian-made UAVs and cease the donation campaign for Bayraktar.
The initiative Latvian Bayraktar collected EUR 900 000 of donations on Ziedot.lv. More than 50 000 residents and companies from Latvia and other countries took part in this campaign.
Authors of this campaign musician Ralfs Eilands, Ukrainian journalist Volodymyr Biryukov and representatives of Ukrainian embassy to Latvia and ambassador Oleksandr Mishchenko agree that the due to the economic situation and growing inflation it will take a very long time to collect the necessary EUR 5 million, but Ukraine needs aid now.
After consulting with Ukrainian and Latvian military experts, as well as Atlas Pro Latvian tactical drone manufacturer, it was recommended to use the money from the donation campaign to purchase 15 Latvian-made Atlas Pro drones and 15 off-road vehicles.
The price of a single drone kit is EUR 5 000. Each kit contains three drones.
This means Ukraine will receive 45 drones the worth of which is EUR 750 000. The price of a single used off-road vehicle is EUR 10 000 and EUR 150 000 for all vehicles to be delivered. The total cost of this aid is EUR 900 000. Once everything has been paid for, a detailed receipt with all positions will be published.
Authors of the campaign hope the people who donated money will understand this decision.
The people who do not agree with the change of purpose of the donation campaign are eligible for a refund. If they decide this, they will need to submit an e-mail with a refund request to ziedot@ziedot.lv by 6 October.