The German government withdraws from the agreement with Poland on the tank repair plant construction on the territory of Poland to repair Ukrainian Leopard 2 tanks.

The German publication Handelsblatt reported on this with reference to people familiar with the matter.

The planned repair plant in Poland was supposed to open a month ago, but negotiations between the countries were still ongoing.

The reason for the termination of the agreement was probably the inflated price expectations of the Polish side, which the Germans consider to be greatly exaggerated.

According to Der Spiegel, the Polish Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa (PGZ) demands over €100,000 for “initial diagnostics” of tanks, while in Germany, it usually costs about €12,000. In addition, PGZ does not wish to undertake any repair guarantees.

The German Ministry of Defense has officially announced that the final decision has not yet been made, and negotiations with the Polish side are ongoing.

Repair hub for Ukrainian Leopard tanks

The purpose of creating a service center is to service Leopard 2 tanks as close as possible to the border with Ukraine to utmost reduce the logistical burden.

The center was to be jointly created by the German arms manufacturers Rheinmetall and Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) and the Polish defense company PGZ.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius recently increased the pressure in meetings with his Polish counterpart Mariusz Błaszczak. The talks were to be completed “within the next ten days if possible so we know where things are going,” Pistorius said.

In case of termination of the agreement with Poland, Leopard 2 tanks will be repaired in Germany and probably also in Lithuania. Repair work on these tanks can begin now, “as soon as the Armed Forces of Ukraine indicate the need for repairs.” Negotiations on the repair of Leopard 2A4 tanks are still ongoing.

There is also the possibility of deploying a site for an overhaul of tanks in the territory of Ukraine. For this, the Germans will cooperate with the Ukrainian Ukroboronprom State Concern.

The German defense concern Rheinmetall has already signed contracts for the maintenance and production of armored vehicles with Ukroboronprom State Concern. For this purpose, a new armored tank plant will be built in Ukraine.