"Today, the Commission allocated the €500 million foreseen under the Act in Support of Ammunition Production (ASAP)," the European Commission said in a statement.
The EU said it was finally able to bolster production capacity for 155mm shells to 1 million per year in January, almost a year after it pledged to deliver that amount to Ukraine.
The Commission admitted to having been troubled by shortages of explosives and powder, which are bottlenecks for shell production, but it promised that ASAP would fix that gap, allowing it to produce 2 million rounds per year by the end of 2025.
"For this purpose, The Union will invest €248 million in powder manufacturing capacity and €124 million in explosives manufacturing capacity," the statement read.
The allocation is part of a 2-billion-euro package that seeks to boost the EU’s military industry. The bloc will invest 310 million euros in a scheme to jointly acquire ammunition, air defense and combat hardware, as well as 1.1 billion euros in R&D projects that will produce next-generation aircraft and weapons to counter supersonic missiles.
The Kremlin has consistently warned against the West's continued arms deliveries to Ukraine, saying that they only prolong the conflict and that Western military equipment will be eventually destroyed. Moscow also cautioned that NATO countries “are playing with fire” by providing Kiev with arms.