German antitrust authorities approve Rheinmetall’s joint defense venture in Ukraine

The German Federal Cartel Office (Bundeskartellamt) gave the go-ahead to Rheinmetall to establish a joint defense venture.

Rheinmetall announced this on its website.

Authorization from other relevant agencies has already been applied for and is expected to come shortly.

“The joint venture is to be based in Kyiv and engage in service and maintenance as well as the assembly, production and development of military vehicles,” the German Federal Cartel Office said in its press release.

The Bundeskartellamt added that the company will initially operate exclusively in Ukraine.

There will be no competitive overlaps in Germany, nor are there any indications of competition concerns.

Cooperation between Rheinmetall and the Ukrainian defense industry is designed to strengthen Ukraine’s defense sector and ultimately the country’s national security by gradually building joint capabilities in defense technology.

Under the agreement, Ukraine will benefit from comprehensive technology transfers; from the creation of defense technology capabilities at home; from additional local value added; and from the prompt delivery of military equipment from Germany.

As a first step, cooperation will focus on the maintenance and repair of vehicles transferred to Ukraine under the German government’s multilateral Ringtausch equipment exchange program.

In addition, maintenance and repair will be carried out on equipment directly supplied to Ukraine by Germany.

In later stages, based on a comprehensive transfer of technology, the cooperation partners intend to jointly produce selected Rheinmetall products in Ukraine.

Looking ahead, cooperation could also involve the joint development of military systems by teams of Ukrainian and German specialists, including for subsequent export by Ukraine.

As previously reported, the Ukroboronprom State Concern and the German defense concern Rheinmetall created a joint venture for tank repair in May 2023.