Germany and Poland thwarted the creation of a repair base for “Leopards” of the Armed Forces of Ukraine – Spiegel

Berlin and Warsaw have not been able to agree on how Ukrainian tanks will be repaired for two months.

Germany and Poland still cannot agree on the opening of a repair and maintenance center for Leopard tanks transferred to Ukraine. The center was supposed to open in May, writes Der Spiegel .

At the end of April, during the next Ramstein, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius announced that a repair center for Leopard tanks transferred to Ukraine would open in Poland. A corresponding statement of intent was even signed between Poland and Germany.

“In Ramstein, Pistorius emphasized in detail how important the joint German-Polish project was for Ukraine. The tank workshop makes sure that the delivered weapons systems, which return from the front damaged or worn out in battle, can be quickly repaired. Listening to Pistorius, the plan seemed specific,” the publication notes.

However, two months later, the tank workshop still did not work. According to insiders from the military industry, Berlin and Warsaw are constantly arguing about the details of the structure of the joint venture. Insiders claim that the project was slowed down due to the fault of Poland. Allegedly, the Polish company PGZ, according to insiders, wanted to set “cosmic prices” for the services of the workshop. Germany was supposed to finance the cost of repairing the Leopards.

“For example, PGZ wants to charge more than 100,000 euros for the so-called “initial diagnostics” of tanks. In Germany, only about 12,000 euros is usually paid for this diagnostic. In addition, PGZ does not want to take on any guarantees for repairs, which is also completely unusual “, writes Der Spiegel.

Meanwhile, the publication claims that several Leopard tanks in need of repair have already arrived in Poland from Ukraine.

As expected, on Monday, the head of the German Defense Ministry will arrive in Poland, where he will meet with his Polish counterpart. This will likely be their last opportunity to kick off the tank workshop project before the NATO summit in Lithuania kicks off in mid-July.

Leopard tanks at the front – latest news

In the first days of the Ukrainian counter-offensive, the Armed Forces of Ukraine lost a certain amount of Western equipment. Russian propaganda trumpeted the complete and final defeat of the Ukrainian army, and Putin even announced hundreds of units of destroyed Ukrainian equipment.

According to the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksiy Reznikov, the Armed Forces of Ukraine actually lost one Leopard tank. But it was not destroyed, but only damaged. After repair, it can be returned to service.

(C)UNIAN 2023