Rheinmetall Agrees to Build Two Plants in Bulgaria

Rheinmetall will build two plants in Bulgaria to produce gunpowder, artillery shells and drones.

BTA reported on this news.

The media outlet has noted that the leader of the Citizens for the European Development of Bulgaria (GERB) party Boyko Borisov met with Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger in Dusseldorf recently.

“Rheinmetall, together with Bulgaria, will soon build at least two plants in Bulgaria, the first of which will produce artillery shells. Even more important is a joint venture for the production of powder,” said Papperger.

He noted that the Bulgarian government and Rheinmetall will jointly invest over €1 billion in production. Borissov added that the agreements should be concluded within three weeks and emphasized that the gunpowder plant will be the largest in Europe.

He also stressed that the plant for the production of 155 mm artillery shells is “extremely important for the Bulgarian army and for Europe as a whole.”

According to him, the design capacity of the plant will be 100 thousand shells. The GERB leader said that the European Commission had already been informed about these two projects. In addition, according to Borysov, the creation of a drone production facility is being discussed.

As noted, this was Borysov’s third meeting with Papperger this year, after previous talks in April in Germany.

Rheinmetall production in Ukraine

In early August, Rheinmetall reportedly planned to double the annual capacity of its 155-mm artillery shell plant in Ukraine, which is currently under construction.

This step is part of Ukraine’s strategy to reduce dependence on supplies from Western partners and strengthen its own autonomy in the production of ammunition.

At the same time, according to Armin Papperger, the plan is facing difficulties. In particular, he noted that the construction process is hampered by bureaucratic obstacles in Ukraine.

He also has noted that despite such plans, Ukraine does not have the money to realize such an increase in production.