2023-05-14 17:35:45
Ukrainian Armed Forces in Donetsk in March 2023 on a 122 mm howitzer D-30 built by Ukroboronprom
Quelle: SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
The German company Rheinmetall will work together with the Ukrainian state-owned company Ukroboronprom. The industry sees this as a clever move. However, converting production to NATO standards will be a mammoth task.
ARheinmetall is the first Western European armaments company to conclude a strategic cooperation with the Ukrainian state-owned company Ukroboronprom. Rheinmetall boss Armin Papperger recently announced at the annual general meeting what has now been officially announced: the Düsseldorf-based group is gradually and jointly building up defense technology skills with Ukraine.
The entry is now a joint venture with a 51 percent Rheinmetall share. It is designed to repair western tanks delivered to Ukraine. The company is scheduled to start work in mid-July.
The joint manufacture of Rheinmetall products is later planned “on the basis of a comprehensive technology transfer”. Even the joint development of new military systems is possible, which could then also be exported from Ukraine.
In a press release, Rheinmetall does not name any specific products. But Papperger had promised the possible construction of the new Panther battle tank model.
The cooperation between Rheinmetall and Ukroboronprom is seen in the industry as a clever move by the Düsseldorf-based group in converting Ukraine’s armaments production from the Soviet era to NATO standards and calibres. However, this is a mammoth task.
65,000 employees work under the umbrella of the state-owned company Ukroboronprom, which was created in 2010, and they are obviously not very efficient. Rheinmetall has around 25,500 employees and six times the sales at 6.4 billion euros (2022).
Ukrainian state company also produces the Antonov
The product range of the Ukraine state-owned company is very wide. The palette ranges from tanks, ammunition, rockets, artillery and radar to the Ukrainian aircraft manufacturer Antonov, the largest sales division.
The umbrella group Ukroboronprom is faced with enormous modernization tasks. In addition, there is probably considerable war damage from Russian attacks. The 2021 annual report states that only 28 of the 137 Ukroboronprom companies generate almost all of their sales (98 percent).
The rest struggle to survive or accumulate debt. The armaments giant self-critically points out that annual sales per employee of around $20,000 are well below the approximately $350,000 at NATO armaments companies. In an annual report chapter reference is made to non-competitive structures and outdated technology.
However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has already initiated reforms. After that, the umbrella group will be reorganized into the new state-owned joint-stock company Ukrainian Defense Industry.
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