Moreni plant and the German producer Rheinmetall Landsysteme have signed the shareholders’ agreement to set up a Romanian-German joint venture in order to manufacture armoured personnel carriers 8×8 as part of the national defence industry. The new joint venture will have a 50% share capital for each partner. Romanian Military Vehicle will produce armoured personnel carriers 8×8 for the Romanian army, hotnews.ro reports.
“The new Armoured Personnel Carrier 8×8 is based on technologic and know-how cooperation between the Romanian plant, producer of traditional APCs for the armed forces, and the foreign partner. The two partner companies aim to manufacture new armoured vehicles 8×8 in Romania, as well as new equipment to fully meet the operational needs of the Romanian army, in the context of the MoD needs of endowment with Armoured Personnel Carriers,” reads a release issued by the National Company ROMARM, subordinated to the Ministry of Economy.
“The new joint venture will lead to new jobs, higher revenues to the state budget and to the social security budget, to the refurbishment of the involved companies as well as to lower costs for the products’ maintenance. This is a key moment to revitalize the national defence industry and we hope the production will start as soon as possible,” Neculai Badea, state secretary with the Ministry of Economy said.
According to sources, Romanian Army needs 600 to 800 APCs. Besides the 8×8 carriers, the Army would need 4×4 carriers that may also be manufactured by the newly set up joint venture.