Bulgaria is an important country for Germany, but also for Rheinmetall. The ties and relations we have are based on our personal connections. Together with Bulgaria, Rheinmetall will build at least two plants in Bulgaria.

This was stated by Armin Papperger, CEO of Rheinmetall, Europe's largest defense contractor, during a meeting with GERB leader Boyko Borissov in Düsseldorf, according to a reporter from BGNES.

Borissov said that the European Commission has been informed about the two projects and that funding from the Bulgarian government has been secured.

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The first of the plants will be for artillery shells, where we will produce over 100,000 rounds jointly in Bulgaria, Armin Papperger added.

According to him, the future joint venture for gunpowder and artillery shells is an extremely important element for the ammunition that will be produced in Bulgaria according to NATO standards, which will also contribute to Bulgaria's position in NATO and in the world.

“The Bulgarian government and Rheinmetall will make a joint investment of over €1 billion in the production of these extremely important components. This is just the beginning of a very successful future cooperation,” said Armin Papperger.

Boyko Borissov added that the contracts for the joint venture must be prepared within the next three weeks.

“The gunpowder factory will be as big as two German factories, the largest in Europe,” he said, expressing his gratitude to Papperger for choosing the VMZ site for the future factory.

The GERB leader reiterated that the factory for 155 mm shells is extremely important for both the Bulgarian army and for Europe as a whole. The target is for the factory to have a capacity of 100,000 units.

Borissov expressed his gratitude to the largest defense company for investing in Bulgaria and announced that work is underway on another plant, about which the media will be informed when the talks are finalized. It will be for the production of drones. | BGNES