German armsmaker Rheinmetall is building a hub in Romania for the maintenance of Western military equipment used by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, ntv reports citing a company official.

The hub will service self-propelled howitzers, as well as main battle tanks such as the Leopard 2, the Marder infantry fighting vehicles, and other military equipment.

located near the border with Ukraine, the hub is expected to start working this month.

“Rheinmetall is actively working to set up a maintenance and logistics hub in Romania, a NATO partner country,” said the company official.

According to him, work on the site in the vicinity of the city of Satu Mare has already begun.

As noted, the service hub should “play a central role in maintaining the operational readiness of western combat systems in use in Ukraine and ensuring the availability of logistical support”.

“It is a key concern for us at Rheinmetall to provide the NATO forces and Ukraine with the best possible support,” Chief Executive Armin Papperger said in a statement.

He also emphasizes that the process of maintenance and repair of weapons supplied to Ukraine plays an important role in protection against full-scale Russian aggression.

Papperger said last month that Rheinmetall was currently repairing 50 Leopard 2 tanks and 100 Leopard 1 tanks, and planning to buy 36 Leopard 2s from Switzerland. He also shared the details of plans to build a tank plant in Ukraine. The company’s CEO emphasized that the construction concept had been handed over to the German government.

“We must give Ukraine the opportunity to defend itself. Such a plant is not built in one day. So we need to start planning now,” he said.

As Papperger notes, the decision of the Ukrainian government is needed to start construction, since the plant will not belong to Rheinmetall. The company will rent it. At the end of last week, a delegation of the German armsmaker Rheinmetall visited Kyiv and met with Volodymyr Zelensky.