German defense contractor Rheinmetall and the state-owned Ukrainian Defense Industry (Ukroboronprom) have established a joint venture, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Oct. 24.
“The Rheinmetall-Ukrainian Defense Industry LLC was registered on Oct. 18,” Shmyhal announced at the German-Ukrainian Business Forum in Berlin. The company will maintain and repair equipment supplied by Ukrainian partners. It will also localize the production of leading models of Rheinmetall equipment.
“The creation of this joint venture creation, without exaggeration, a landmark event that will bring cooperation between our countries to a new level and will allow us to build the arsenal of the free world together.”
The German government greenlit the creation of a German-Ukrainian enterprise focused on military production on Sept. 28, according to Andreas Mundt, the head of Germany’s anti-trust agency.
Earlier in October, Rheinmetall won a major contract with the German government to supply artillery munitions.