Main image: Start of construction of the “Rheinmetall” plant | Photo by G. Šiuparys / LRT
The German defense company Rheinmetall, which has begun construction of an ammunition production plant in Lithuania, intends to establish here a competence centre for the production of propellant charges for ammunition — the centre will manufacture and assemble charges for 155 mm artillery shells.
The relevant memorandum was signed on Tuesday in Baišogala by executives of Rheinmetall and Lithuania’s Ministry of Economy and Innovation, LRT reports.
“The memorandum opens the potential for construction of a second Rheinmetall plant in Lithuania… Practically every ammunition round requires several such modular charges. Thus, 75,000 artillery shells of 155 mm caliber and about half a million of these modular charges will be produced here, in Lithuania,” Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda said at the ceremony held Tuesday near Baišogala.
He also discussed opportunities for industrial cooperation, for example in drone production, with Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger, who attended the ceremony.
“If we produce one element, even if it is the same ammunition, that is one element. If we create an entire chain, a vertical chain, where we can manufacture ammunition practically independently of external suppliers, that is a completely different level of Lithuania’s strategic independence — and that is what we strive for,” Nausėda said.
He stressed that Lithuanian chemical companies are also open to cooperation with German industry.
The announcement noted that on Tuesday in Radviliškis district, near Baišogala, construction officially began on the joint ammunition plant, a multi-hundred-million-euro project by the German defense giant Rheinmetall together with Lithuanian firms.
The proposed ammunition plant, with an estimated cost of €260–300 million, is being built on 340 hectares in the village of Kėmerai, about 6 km from Baišogala. It is planned to produce tens of thousands of 155 mm artillery shells per year.
Rheinmetall is implementing the project together with two Lithuanian state enterprises — Epso-G Invest and the arms plant in Giričiai.
After the parties signed the investment agreement last summer, it was announced that the German concern intends to create at least 150 new jobs at the future plant.
Under the agreement signed in December last year, Rheinmetall owns 51% of Rheinmetall Defence Lietuva, Epso-G Invest holds 48%, and the Giričiai arms plant holds 1% of the shares.
