Rheinmetall joins in Ukrainian JV on the support and manufacture of military vehicles
Rheinmetall has supplied Leopard 2A4 tanks to Ukraine and has established a military vehicles JV with the country.(Photo: Rheinmetall)
Germany’s Rheinmetall will provide further support to Ukraine, on top of billions-of-dollars worth of munitions, by taking a majority stake in a military vehicles company.
Technology and defence company Rheinmetall has set up a Kyiv-based joint venture (JV) with Ukrainian Defense Industry JSC (UDI, the former Ukroboronprom), officially announcing on 24 October an arrangement in place since 18 October.
Cooperation between the two organisations began in May this year with Rheinmetall providing industrial support to Ukraine forces in the fight against Russia by supplying hundreds-of-thousands of rounds of large and small munitions.
On 28 September 2023, Germany’s Federal Cartel Office gave the new JV the green light, followed by approval from the relevant agencies in Poland and Ukraine in early October.
A few days later, Rheinmetall Ukrainian Defense Industry was officially registered and commenced operations with the German company owning 51% and UDI 49%.
The venture will be active in the fields of service and maintenance, as well as in the assembly, production and development of military vehicles. It will initially operate solely in Ukraine.
In a statement, Rheinmetall said: ‘Ukraine stands to benefit from this cooperation in multiple ways, including the creation and expansion of defence technology capacities in-country, additional local added value, as well as the swift delivery of military equipment from Germany.’
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