Photo: Global Look Press
Swiss authorities have requested an investigation into the acquisition of state to the RUAG arms company in Italy in 2016, 96 Leopard 1 tanks and in 2023 the signing of an agreement on their resale to the German concern Rheinmetall for the purpose of subsequent delivery to Ukraine.
In 2016, the state company RUAG Holding SA purchased 96 Leopard 1 tanks in Italy and left them here for storage. According to the state-owned company RUAG MRO, created after the reorganization of RUAG Holding SA, these tanks were purchased “as a commercial product for the use of engines for spare parts.”
At the beginning of 2023, Rheinmetall asked RUAG MRO about the possibility of selling these tanks ” and in response “Rheinmetall at the same time openly stated that these tanks should be delivered to Ukraine after service repairs in Germany.”
However, the contract contained a condition according to which the tanks could only be delivered to a third country with the consent of the relevant Swiss authorities.
This is not the first case in Switzerland concerning the supply of weapons and military equipment to the Ukrainian army. Earlier, the country launched an investigation into the leak of a document on the supply of weapons to the armed forces of Ukraine. The newspaper reported various options for the supply of weapons to Ukraine while maintaining the neutrality of Switzerland. The main concern was a possible exchange of weapons and military equipment with the Baltic countries.
At the same time, the Swiss State Secretariat for of economic affairs said he considered it legally possible to use 7.4 billion francs (about $8.3 billion) from the Russian central bank to rebuild Ukraine.