Germany was the first country to give the news war-torn Ukraine has been waiting for: it will send Leopard 2 tanks to the war. Several other countries have since made the same pledge, but not Belgium, which has no main battle tanks left.
The country sold its last lot to arms dealer Freddy Versluy’s company five years ago. In eastern Belgium, he now has a large warehouse full of used tanks for sale.
Freddy Versluy owns, among other things, dozens of German-made Leopard 1 tanks and other military vehicles.
– We are negotiating with a number of governments. I was recently contacted by the Ukrainian government. The interest is great because the German government has given an export permit, there was none until recently, he says.
– But we also talk to the British government and the Swedish government. Many governments are interested, but we’ll see what happens, the arms dealer continues.
The Belgian Minister of Defense says for his part that the companies that sell tanks have “unreasonable profit margins”.
See images from Freddy’s warehouse in the player above.