German concern Rheinmetall to start repairing tanks in Ukraine this month

Rheinmetall will start repairing tanks in Ukraine in August this year.

Armin Papperger, CEO of Rheinmetall, said this in an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

"The first twelve Ukrainian employees have been trained in Germany, and the next twelve are expected to arrive," Papperger said.

He added that Rheinmetall could soon launch tank production in Ukraine, as announced in July.

In his words, Ukraine has well-equipped tank production plants dating back to the Soviet era.

"We want to lease them and then use one or two production lines to manufacture vehicles to NATO standards," the concern's CEO said.

He added that they would like to localise the production in Ukraine so that the country could become independent in the production of weapons in the future.

It will be recalled that on 28 July, Papperger announced plans to set up a repair centre for Leopard tanks in Ukraine.