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Rheinmetall also supplies Ukraine with tanks
Photo: HANNIBAL HANSCHKE / EPA
Germany's largest arms manufacturer Rheinmetall is allowed to set up a joint venture with an arms company from Ukraine. The Bundeskartellamt has now given its approval to this effect.
The partner company is the Ukrainian Defense Industry (UDI), a state-owned company with around 67,000 employees. The joint venture will build and maintain military vehicles. "Activities in the areas of service and maintenance services, assembly, production and development" are planned, it said.
"In Germany, this project does not result in any competitive overlaps," said Andreas Mundt, head of the antitrust office. "We gave our approval quickly."
According to the Bundeskartellamt, the new joint venture is based in Kiev and will "initially operate exclusively on the territory of Ukraine".
While Rheinmetall is primarily known for the production of armoured vehicles in the armaments sector, the Ukrainian state-owned company UDI is known in the defence industry for the production of weapons and equipment.
lpz/AFP/dpa