Mariusz Błaszczak made the announcement in the Polish city on Thursday, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported.
The defence minister met with the managers and staff of the Military Auto Works (WZM) factory in Poznań.
Błaszczak, who is also a deputy prime minister, told reporters: “The K2 tanks will be serviced, maintained and produced here, at the Military Auto Works in Poznań.”
He added: “This is good news for Poznań and its region. It means more new jobs and the continuation of jobs already created at WZM.”
1,000 K2 tanks for Polish army
Błaszczak noted that Poland had ordered 1,000 K2 main battle tanks from South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem company.
He said: “The first batch of 180 K2 tanks will be supplied from South Korea. The next batches will be co-produced, and then produced in Poznań.”
He noted that talks on "securing K2 tanks for the Polish army" kicked off in May last year and by December, the first machines were delivered to Poland's 16th Mechanised Division, “which is responsible for security in the northeast of the country.”
Błaszczak said that "in 2023 more K2 tanks will be delivered to the Polish army” and “the tanks will start to be serviced in Poland.”
He told reporters that the government was "aware of the threat posed by Russia’s assault on Ukraine."
He stated: “We support Ukraine, but we also make sure to strengthen the Polish armed forces and develop the domestic arms industry.”
Błaszczak also said that “the joint production, and later domestic production of the K2 tanks is a fine example of Polish-Korean cooperation.”
Thursday is day 372 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: IAR, PAP