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Germany’s regulatory agency approved<\/strong><\/a> on Sept. 28 the plans of the arms manufacturer Rheinmetall to set up a joint venture in Kyiv together with the Ukrainian Defense Industry, Ukraine’s state-owned defense company.<\/p>\n This new enterprise will provide “maintenance, assembly, production, and development of military vehicles” and initially operate exclusively on the territory of Ukraine, the German Federal Cartel Office said.<\/p>\n “The defense industry is in flux given the geopolitical situation,” said Andreas Mundt, the agency’s president.<\/p>\n “This project will not result in any competitive overlaps in Germany. We gave our approval quickly.”<\/p>\n Rheinmetall said<\/strong><\/a> that the first steps in the cooperation will focus on the maintenance and repair of vehicles transferred to Ukraine as part of Germany’s multilateral “Ringtausch” equipment exchange program.<\/p>\n Under this scheme, European allies are providing Ukraine with older Soviet equipment in exchange for German armaments.<\/p>\n As the next step, Rheinmetall wants to manufacture select products in Ukraine and even develop military systems by joint German-Ukrainian specialist teams further in the future.<\/p>\n In May, the German arms manufacturer presented<\/strong><\/a> plans to set up a joint venture with Ukraine’s state defense contractor to produce Fuchs armored personnel carriers. Later in the summer, Rheinmetall said<\/strong><\/a> it wanted to open an armored vehicle plant on Ukrainian territory.<\/p>\n Read also:<\/b> Rheinmetall confirms Luna drone system for Ukraine in 2023<\/a><\/p>\n We\u2019ve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent<\/a>.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n