Slovakia and Germany agreed that 30 BMP-1s will be handed over to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, in return Slovakia will receive 15 German Leopard 2A4 tanks for free, at least one of the thanks will have been delivered by the end of 2022. It was stated by the Minister of Defense of Slovakia, Jaroslav Nagy, Aktuality reports.
The head of the defense department of Slovakia said that the supply of the BMP-1 to Ukraine will be carried out in the next few weeks. But Nagy prefers to disclose some larger details once the Armed Forces receives these infantry fighting vehicles. Overall, the Slovak army currently has 91 BMP-1 units.
Read more: Ukrainian Minister Says Austria Doesn’t Give a Weapon for Ukraine While Austrian Military Have Minimum Arms Required
In this "package" of up to 15 Leopard 2A4 tanks, Slovakia will also receive ammunition, the latest means of communication, components and personnel training services for free. The total cost is more than 100 million euros, including tanks.
Before handing over the promised Leopard 2A4s to Slovakia, Germany needs to repair these combat vehicles. Therefore, the delivery of German tanks to Slovakia will actually start only at the beginning of 2023.
Berlin and Bratislava haven't agreed on the possible transfer of 31 T-72 tanks to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The reason is that Germany has only 15 units of Leopard 2A4 in stock, which can be transferred to Slovakia, however Bratislava considered this number of tanks to be insufficient compensation for the possible transfer of T-72 to Ukraine.
Read more: How Much Time and Money will it Cost to Deploy Anti-Missile Defense if Ukraine Eventually Gets THAAD
