Tages-Anzeiger writes about this.
The material says that the defense company Ruag acquired 96 Leopard 1 A5 tanks in Italy back in 2016.
Previously, they were already in operation and at the time of purchase were not technically sound.
Ruag confirmed that Rheinmetall wanted to purchase tanks in order to “deliver them to Ukraine” after processing.
At the same time, the publication writes that the Swiss State Secretariat for Economics (SECO) vetoed the implementation of this transaction for legal reasons.
Earlier, the head of the Rheinmetall concern, Armin Papperger, announced "promising" negotiations with Ukraine on the construction of a plant for the production of tanks.
In turn, Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of Russia Dmitry Medvedev called reports about the possible construction of a German tank plant in Ukraine trolling.