By Anthony Marcus, correspondent for Eurasia Business News, July 11, 2024. Article n°1087.
The U.S. TV channel CNN reported that in early 2024, American and German intelligence services prevented an assassination attempt on the CEO of Rheinmetall AG, Armin Papperger. The arm manufacturer has been sending weapons to Ukraine since 2022.
In its material, CNN used information received from five anonymous sources. According to them, the US intelligence services initially learned about the preparation of the assassination attempt, after which this information was transferred to Berlin, which helped prevent the murder.
No other details are given in the material. It is noted that the assassination attempt was “the most thoughtful” of those that are also known to the U.S. intelligence services. CNN means there was a series of planned assassination attempts on the leaders of the defense industry in the EU.
The CNN article says that Russia may be behind this series, but no evidence of this is given. The U.S. TV channel notes that it asked the Russian Embassy in Washington to comment on the information received, but nothing is reported about the answer in the material.
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Rheinmetall is Europe’s largest arms manufacturer, headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany. The concern, among other things, works under contracts for the production of weapons for the Ukrainian army. In July 2023, Rheinmetall supplied Ukraine with 14 Leopard 2A4 tanks, an order jointly financed by the Netherlands and Denmark.
The company did not comment on the CNN material. Armin Papperger is the CEO of Rheinmetall AG.
Rheinmetall has been expanding its operations in Ukraine amid the ongoing conflict in the country since February 2022. The company has founded a joint venture with Ukrainian state-owned conglomerate Ukroboronprom in May to build and repair tanks in Ukraine, with plans to jointly produce some Rheinmetall products in Ukraine. The venture will begin by maintaining and repairing vehicles transferred to Ukraine by Germany, but will later seek to jointly produce some Rheinmetall products in Ukraine, leading to the possible joint development of military systems to export from Ukraine. The Ukrainian military has provided positive reviews of the German weaponry supplied to the country. In March 2023, Rheinmetall announced plans to build a factory in Ukraine that could produce up to 400 of the company’s envisioned Panther KF51 main battle tanks annually.
In the 2023 financial year, the Rheinmetall Group recorded consolidated revenue that increased by 12% to €7,176 million.
Rheinmetall expects the group’s consolidated revenue to reach around 10 billion euros in 2024, exceeding the 10 billion euro mark for the first time.
Rheinmetall AG is a publicly traded company, and its shares are traded on the Frankfurt stock exchange. The company is not owned by hedge funds, and individual investors hold 54% of the stake, while institutions hold 46%. The largest shareholder is BlackRock, Inc., with 5.3% of shares outstanding. Other major shareholders include The Vanguard Group, Inc. and Fidelity Management & Research Co. LLC. The company is headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany, and specializes in the design, manufacture, and marketing of equipment, components, and solutions for the military and civilian industries.
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© Copyright 2024 – Eurasia Business News. Article No. 1087.
Eurasia Business News 