Düsseldorf/Berlin (dpa/lnw) - Arms companies based in North Rhine-Westphalia have been approved to export war weapons worth almost 65 million euros to Ukraine until the beginning of August this year. This emerges from the response of the federal government to a parliamentary question by the left-wing MP Sevim Dagdelen.
With approvals for armaments exports totaling around 324 million euros, NRW ranked fourth among the federal states during the period. Lower Saxony with 2.07 billion euros was at the top of the federal states up to the reporting date of August 5th, followed by Baden-Württemberg with more than 736 million euros and Bavaria with a good 704 million euros. Dagdelen described the armaments companies as profiteers from the expansion of the business with death.
Only companies from Rhineland-Palatinate (95 million euros) and Baden-Württemberg (176 million euros) were allowed to export war weapons to the Ukraine at a higher value than for NRW armaments companies. In total, German exports of war weapons to Ukraine worth around 370 million euros were approved, as well as "other armaments" worth around 292 million euros.
The federal government did not make public the value of weapons from NRW that were actually exported during the period, with reference to trade and business secrets. Ukraine was one of the main recipient countries alongside Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Spain and the USA. The highest value of the exports approved up to the beginning of August was planned arms deliveries from North Rhine-Westphalia to the Ukraine, the USA, Australia, Italy, Belgium, Switzerland, Lithuania and Finland.
