Germany and Ukraine Announce the Creation of a Joint Defence Venture
German defence conglomerate Rheinmetall and "Ukroboronprom" have established a joint venture.
The registration of the LLC "Rheinmetall-Ukrainian Defence Industry" was announced today by Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal during the German-Ukrainian Business Forum in Berlin.
This enterprise will provide services for maintaining and repairing the equipment supplied to Ukraine by Western partners. In the future, they plan to set up joint production of certain types of Rheinmetall AG's defence products in Ukraine.
"The creation of a joint venture is, without exaggeration, a significant event that elevates the level of cooperation between our countries to a qualitatively new stage, allowing us to jointly build an arsenal for a free world," said the head of the Ukrainian government.
Recall that on March 30, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with a Rheinmetall Group delegation led by CEO Armin Papperger in Kyiv. Later, "Ukroboronprom" signed a strategic partnership agreement with the German conglomerate. In May, Papperger announced that the factory workers would assemble and repair Rheinmetall Fuchs armored vehicles under license at a new plant.
The German company expects to sign contracts for the creation of two more joint ventures – for the production of ammunition and air defence systems.
Rheinmetall is one of the world's largest defence conglomerates, manufacturing weapons for the Bundeswehr and serving as the primary supplier of 120mm tank ammunition to the German armed forces.
As previously reported by The Gaze, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova warned that if Rheinmetall builds a plant in Ukraine, it would be considered a legitimate military target for Russian armed forces.
In response, the CEO of Rheinmetall emphasized that the company would by no means back down from its intention to build a plant in Ukraine. Armin Papperger also intends to protect the plant using Rheinmetall's air defence systems.
In his view, it is critically important for Rheinmetall to support its Ukrainian partners in their struggle for freedom and democracy.