
The German company Rheinmetall, a supplier of systems for the defense industry, will participate in the construction of two factories in Bulgaria, its director, Armin Papperger, announced on Monday. One of the factories will be for the production of gunpowder, while the other for artillery shells.
The news was announced by Papperger during a meeting with the leader of the Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB) party, at the same time former Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, in Düsseldorf, just days before the visit of Bulgarian President Rumen Radev to Germany.
The factories will be a joint project of the German company Rheinmetall and the Bulgarian state-owned enterprise Vazovski Mashinostroitelni Zavodi (VMZ).
The investment will have a total value of over 1 billion euros, Rheinmetall director Papperger said on Monday, without specifying how much of this amount will be covered by the German company.
"This is just the beginning of a very successful cooperation in the future," Papperger added.
The news comes a few months after rumors of a possible Rheinmetall investment in Bulgaria. In March, Papperger and other company representatives visited the country and met with President Radev and Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov. Borisov, who does not hold any government posts, then announced his visit to Germany, where he met with company executives.