Berlin and Warsaw are bitterly disputing the details of the joint venture’s structure.
Poland and Germany planned to open a repair center for Leopard tanks on Polish territory at the end of May, but so far the two countries cannot agree – and it’s not just about money, said the publication Spiegel.
On April 21, at the Ramstein airbase in Germany, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius announced that a repair center for Leopard battle tanks supplied to Ukraine will open in Poland at the end of May. The minister was even able to estimate the estimated cost of the so-called repair hub at 150 million euros.
However, two months after the Ramstein meeting, according to defense industry sources, the German-Polish tank project has not yet made any progress. Instead, Berlin and Warsaw bitterly dispute the details of the joint venture’s structure.
The first draft of the agreement was ready a few days ago, but the document was not signed until the end of last week due to various controversial issues.
According to the plan, two German tank manufacturers Rheinmetall and Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) will form a joint venture. Together with the Polish state-owned armored company PGZ, it is planned to create a joint tank workshop at Polish factories in Gliwice and Poznan. The cost of repairing the Leopard tanks will be covered by the German government.
In industrial circles, however, they say that this project is still blocked by Poland. For example, the Polish company PGZ presented unique ideas about the cost of tank repairs; insiders spoke of excessive price increases.
For example, PGZ wants to charge more than 100 thousand euros for the so-called “basic diagnostics” of tanks. In Germany, such diagnostics usually only charge around 12,000 euros. In addition, PGZ does not want to give any guarantees for repairs, which is completely unusual, the newspaper writes.
German tank builders believed that disputes over tank hubs were politically motivated. For months now the government in Warsaw has been campaigning against Berlin. The ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party hardly misses an opportunity to challenge the German government.
Several Leopard tanks in need of repair have already arrived from Ukraine to Poland, so it is impossible to delay the launch of the repair center.
On Monday, Boris Pistorius will be able to discuss the opening of the repair center with his Polish counterpart Mariusz Blaszczak. Together, the ministers will visit the German Patriot air defense position in the Polish city of Zamosc.
Recall that the German arms concern Rheinmetall, on behalf of the government of the Netherlands, will transfer 14 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine.
Germany supplies mine-clearing tanks to Ukraine
Source: korrespondent
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