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Rheinmetall boss Papperger: "We certainly have some catching up to do"
Photo: Marius Becker / dpa
According to its own statements, the armaments group Rheinmetall still has no approval for deliveries to Ukraine.
"Not a single delivery has so far been approved by the federal government, including the martens or ammunition or the sale of old Leopard 1 tanks," said CEO Armin Papperger of the "Rheinische Post".
The first used Marder armored personnel carrier "we'll have it ready in three weeks," said Papperger about the progress of the repair work.
"Then we could deliver two pieces a week, a total of around 100 pieces."
Rheinmetall prepares the martens "at its own expense without a specific order because there are enough interested parties to buy them from us," Papperger explained.
"But of course we would prefer a delivery to the Ukraine to help the country." The largest German armaments company has large stocks of used armored vehicles, such as the Marder and Leopard 1 types.
Papperger commented critically on the so-called ring exchange projects of the federal government.
Slovenia or the Czech Republic, for example, would supply the Ukraine with heavy weapons from Soviet production and in return receive refurbished used goods from Rheinmetall.
“The problem with exchanging rings would be that the Czechs and Slovaks don’t want martens, they want modern products like the Lynx infantry fighting vehicle, which we have developed at our own expense in recent years,” said Papperger.
»But to build large numbers, we need about two years.«
Regarding the arms deliveries from Germany to Ukraine overall, Papperger said: »We certainly have some catching up to do.
Not much has been delivered so far.«
The "Bild" newspaper reported on Friday that weeks ago the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Economics had signaled their approval for the delivery of the Marder infantry fighting vehicle to Ukraine.
The Chancellery has not yet made a decision.
dab/AFP
