German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall will expand in Ukraine in cooperation with the Ukrainian military industry to repair military equipment, in the first step before opening a plant in the Russian-occupied country, it was announced this Friday.
A joint venture will be created [empreendimento conjunto] Between the German group, one of the manufacturers of Leopard tanks, and the Ukrainian state-owned Ukroboronprom, a state-owned military conglomerate, Rheinmetall said in a statement.
“At the first joint stage with Ukroboronprom, activities in the field of repair of military equipment (…) should become the cornerstone of this cooperation,” the press release quoted by France-Presse (AFP) as saying.
“In subsequent phases, cooperation will focus on the joint production of certain Rheinmetall products in Ukraine based on full technology transfer,” adds the group, which predicts in the future that “new military systems may also be jointly developed” in Ukraine and exported to other countries.
The “joint venture” should start working from mid-July.
Rheinmetall cares about “meeting the urgent needs [da Ucrânia] as soon as possible,” said Armin Papperger, CEO of Rheinmetall, quoted in the statement.
Papperger has already said that he is in talks with the Ukrainian government to open a plant in the country.
The German government is one of the main sponsors of military assistance provided by Ukraine’s allies, and in particular, it supplies Rheinmetall-made weapons and ammunition, such as the Leopard battle tanks that have recently arrived on the battlefield against Russia.
Rheinmettal also said on Tuesday that it had received a large order worth several tens of millions of euros “for the supply of artillery ammunition to a European customer,” which it did not name.
The German group’s statement added that “ammunition will be delivered in 2023 and 2024.”
The order “complements a series of orders in the field of ammunition for infantry fighting vehicles and main battle tanks. Thus, Rheinmetall emphasizes its high level of competence in the production of ammunition for its military customers, ”the company emphasized.
This technology consortium ranges from medium caliber ammunition to infantry fighting vehicles and anti-aircraft weapons.
It also manufactures aircraft weapons, high-energy “lasers” or ammunition for tanks and artillery.
One of the world’s leading manufacturers of weapon systems and ammunition, Rheinmettal is also building a new 35mm medium caliber munitions plant at its headquarters in Unterluss, Lower Saxony, to meet current air defense demand. .
The group from Düsseldorf, in western Germany, made record profits in 2022 and this year entered the elite of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, the Dax index of the 40 largest German companies.
The military offensive launched by Russia on February 24, 2022 in Ukraine has so far caused the flight of more than 14.7 million people – 6.5 million internally displaced persons and more than 8.2 million to European countries – from, according to the latest UN data , which classifies this migration crisis as the worst in Europe since the Second World War (1939-1945).
At least 18 million Ukrainians are in need of humanitarian assistance, and 9.3 million are in need of food aid and shelter.
The Russian invasion, justified by Russian President Vladimir Putin on the need to “denazify” and demilitarize Ukraine for Russia’s security, was condemned by the international community at large, which responded by sending weapons to Ukraine and imposing political and economic sanctions on Russia.
The UN has presented as confirmed 8,791 civilians killed and 14,815 wounded since the beginning of the war, stressing that these figures are much lower than the real ones.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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