Leopard 2 service center opens in Poland, first tanks arrive from Ukraine for repair
The service center for Leopard 2 tanks from Ukraine has started work in the Polish city of Gliwice. The first two tanks have already been accepted there for repair.
Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Błaszczak announced this on July 22.
"The overhaul center in Gliwice has been launched! The first two "Leopards" have already arrived from Ukraine at the Bumar plant," he wrote.
Hub remontowy w Gliwicach rozpoczął działalność! Dwa pierwsze Leopardy już przyjechały z Ukrainy do zakładów Bumar. pic.twitter.com/VvfZSzh7Jx
— Mariusz Błaszczak (@mblaszczak) July 22, 2023
Błaszczak signed the agreement on creating such a center with the Minister of Defense of Germany, Boris Pistorius, in April 2023 at a regular meeting in Ramstein.
The Polish Minister of Defense explained that the reason for choosing this plant was that it had been engaged in the maintenance, repair, and modernization of Leopard 2A4 tanks there for 20 years. The minister also reminded that Polish tanks of the T-72 family are being repaired and modernized in Gliwice.
The repair center was planned to open in May, but Germany and Poland could not agree on the details of the structure of the joint venture for a long time. According to Spiegel, the process was hampered by the Polish side, which offered "monthly prices" for work on the tanks and did not want to undertake any guarantees for repairs.
The German newspaper Handelsblatt, citing sources, even wrote that Berlin is withdrawing from the agreement with Warsaw due to "absolutely exaggerated price expectations of the Poles." However, the German Ministry of Defense spokesman did not confirm this information. He noted that Poland and Germany continue to implement the idea of repairing Leopard 2 tanks and also want to continue to "jointly coordinate" the repair of tanks delivered to Ukraine.
