Armin Papperger, CEO of the German arms concern Rheinmetall AG, explained that the delay in the construction of the plant in Ukraine was due to the choice of a new location for it by the Ukrainian partners.
Armin Papperger, CEO of the German arms concern Rheinmetall AG, explained that the delay in the construction of the plant in Ukraine was due to the choice of a new location for it by the Ukrainian partners.
He said this in an interview, adding that after the construction of the facility is completed, they will be ready to launch it within a year.
«Unfortunately, the construction of the ammunition production plant in Ukraine is delayed. The plant should have already been operational. However, Ukraine then wanted to change the location. We were told that a new location for construction would be designated very quickly,» Armin Papperger said.
According to him, the plant in Ukraine, among other things, plans to produce Fuchs, Lynx, and Panther combat vehicles.
«We are proposing new production for all of them in Ukraine, just as we are doing with Fuchs in Algeria. It seems that the Lynx infantry fighting vehicle will be the first step in this direction,» added the head of the Rheinmetall AG concern.
As Papperger explained, the contract for the production of these combat vehicles with Ukraine is still pending.
«This contract requires financing, and this requires significant funds. Establishing production there only makes sense if Rheinmetall can produce 200 to 300 vehicles,» he specified.
Meanwhile, as it became known this week, the German company Rheinmetall and its Lithuanian partners have laid the first stone for the construction of a new ammunition production plant worth several hundred million euros near the city of Baisogala in Lithuania.
As dev.ua reported, only in September did Ukraine allocate a plot of land for a new Rheinmetall plant.
The German defense concern Rheinmetall planned to open three enterprises in Ukraine: they will specialize in the production and repair of air defense systems, the repair and assembly of armored vehicles, and the production of ammunition.
Earlier, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte reported that the construction of Rheinmetall’s second military plant in Ukraine is nearing completion.
Rheinmetall already has an active equipment repair plant in Ukraine, but Armin Papperger is dissatisfied with Ukrainian bureaucracy, which, in his opinion, slows down the speed of building Rheinmetall enterprises in Ukraine.
