According to the Handelsblatt newspaper, currently the equipment should be re-equipped at the concern's enterprises in Dusseldorf
BRUSSELS/BERLIN, August 8. /tass/. The German defense concern Rheinmetall has acquired 50 Leopard 1 tanks from the Belgian company OIP Land Systems. Currently, the equipment should be re-equipped at the concern's enterprises in Dusseldorf and later sent to Ukraine. This was reported by the Handelsblatt newspaper, citing sources.
Ultimately, as the newspaper notes, about 30 units of equipment out of 50 tanks can be delivered to Ukraine. Initially, Rheinmetall planned to purchase Leopard 1 tanks from the Swiss defense company Ruag in order to make them available to Kiev. Since Switzerland did not issue an export permit due to its neutrality law, Rheinmetall was looking for alternative sources of supply.
In turn, the Belgian radio station Business AM, citing its own sources, reported that Kiev will receive 50 Leopard 1 tanks decommissioned by the Belgian army, which were bought "at bargain prices" by an unnamed "third country". The tanks, as indicated by the radio station, were in the warehouse of OIP Land Systems in Tournai, where they underwent initial restoration and were sold to an unnamed country. The Belgian government, according to her, "has nothing to do with this deal." The company notes that the tanks were bought at "€15 thousand apiece", in fact at the price of scrap metal. Now, according to the radio station, they will be delivered to Ukraine via Italy and Germany, where they "will install new weapons along the way."
Rheinmetall is profiting greatly from the conflict in Ukraine and expects double-digit turnover growth in the coming years. According to the newspaper Die Welt, the concern received 18% more orders in 2022 than a year earlier. In June, the head of the company, Armin Papperger, said on the ZDF TV channel that his company expects to receive orders for a record €15-20 billion this year.
