Leopard tanks sent to Ukraine will be maintained within the Polish military-industrial complex.

According to Tomasz Lejman, correspondent of Polsat News and Interia, the negotiations in regards to this are still underway. If they are to be successful, the official announcement will take place after the meeting of NATO defence officials in Ramstein.

Polsat News and Interia report that German Leopard tanks will be undergoing maintenance on the Polish Bumar-Łabędy defence factory in Gliwice. An appropriate memorandum should be signed after the Ramstein meeting on Friday.

This was confirmed on the air of Polsat News by the president of the Polish company, Edyta Szymańska, who acknowledged that "a mechanical factory in Gliwice is ready to create a hub for repair of armoured vehicles used by the Ukrainian army".

At the beginning of March, Mariusz Błaszczak, Vice President and Minister of Defence of Poland, stated that Leopard tanks used by the Ukrainian army can undergo repair works in Poland. Then he asserted that this can be done in Gliwice, but the factory lacked necessary parts.

"I expect from [German – ed.] Defence Minister Pistorius that he will influence the German industry and corresponding parts for Leopards will be provided. It is a challenge that is faced by Germany, Poland, Canada and virtually all states, but, of course, can only be solved by Germany and its defence industry," Błaszczak said before the meeting with his German counterpart.

In the end of March, Der Spiegel, with reference to its sources, reported that 18 tanks were supplied to Ukraine by Germany.

The supplied Leopard 2 tanks are the new 2A6 version models. Spare parts and ammunition were supplied alongside the tanks. Almost at the same time with Leopard 2 tanks arriving in Ukraine, the soldiers of the Armed Forces finished their training on Challenger tanks in Britain. The country wants to supply 14 of such tanks to Ukraine.

Overall, around 140 tanks were supplied by the West.

Poland has opened a T-64 repair centre (Ukr) for Ukraine. Bumar-Łabędy and Ukroboronprom [Ukrainian Defence Industry – ed.] have jointly created a technological centre that will deal with the repair of T-64 tanks, their maintenance of combat capability and restoration to full working condition.