Koprivnicka Tatra | photo: Alexandr Satinský, MAFRA
Both companies will establish a joint venture, which will bear the name of the Czech company Tatra in its name. It will be located in Kopřivnice in the Moravian-Silesian Region directly on the premises of the Tatra company, which belongs to the portfolio of the CSG holding. The creation of a new company should also bring new skilled jobs.
“A new strategic company will be established in the Moravian-Silesian Region, which will not be an assembly plant, but a developer and manufacturer of modern defense technologies,” said CSG media representative Andrej Čírtek.
Czechoslovak Group and Rheinmetall have agreed on a joint armaments company at the Castle |
Representatives of both companies signed a memorandum of understanding in the field of tactical military vehicles at Prague Castle on Wednesday. President Miloš Zeman was present at the signing. However, CSG did not publish the details of the cooperation until Thursday.
Rheinmetall is one of the largest European arms companies. In the Czech Republic, it is bidding for a contract for the production of 210 infantry tracked combat vehicles for 50 billion crowns. The company recently won a similar contract in Hungary, where it will produce Lynx belt armor. It is on the Visegrad countries – the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Hungary – that both companies want to focus on cooperation. the transfer of defense technologies between Germany and the Czech Republic. CSG will act as a partner in Rheinmetall’s projects together with dozens of other Czech defense industry companies that are involved in the Rheinmetall supply chain.
Together, they want to develop and manufacture new variants of military tactical vehicles in Kopřivnice and win export orders.
“We look forward to working with Rheinmetall and believe that it represents a significant milestone in the modernization of the armed forces and domestic industry in the Czech Republic,” said CSG Director Michal Strnad.
According to Rheinmetall Chairman of the Board Armin Papperger, CSG can join the existing global supply chain for a wide range of German company’s defense products. “It’s a key relationship for Rheinmetall,” he said.
Hungary has chosen new belt armor. He buys 218 Lynx vehicles |
Čírtek noted that the negotiated partnership does not depend on domestic projects and contracts, but has long-term potential, because Rheinmetall’s production capacities are busy and it needs quality Czech suppliers.
“Rheinmetall and CSG are ready to invest in the development of production capacities and the development of new technologies in the joint venture,” he said, adding that the first step in the joint venture will be to transfer production .