OIP built up a huge private arsenal, banking on there one day being demand for the weapons again
n the outskirts of Tournai, a sleepy medieval town in the gentle, Brueghelian landscape of the French-speaking part of Belgium, there is an unassuming grey hangar, barely hidden behind a fence. Inside are rows upon rows of German-made Leopard 1 tanks and other heavy fighting vehicles – some of the same types of weapons that top Ukraine’s military wishlist.defence company OIP and contains one of the biggest privately owned reserves of weapons in Europe.
“Everything we do is legal here, we go by the books and have all the licences needed,” he said, shrugging at the “arms dealer” label.Walking Tournai’s narrow, cobblestoned back streets and boulevards, it is hard to imagine that such weapons are only a 15-minute walk away. Versluys bought up most of his current stock over the last two decades, acquiring the tanks directly from European governments cutting their defence spending.
The Leopard 1, which is from the 1960s, is lighter and less powerful than the newer Leopard 2 tanks, 14 of which Germanylast week to send to Ukraine, but German officials have said they would still be able to compete with a Russian battle tank. Ludivine Dedonder, Belgium’s minister of defence, last week said it had opened talks with OIP but accused the firm of trying to make a “huge profit” from the sale. “The talks are still on, but I’m not going to pay half a million for a tank that’s nowhere near combat-ready,” Dedonder told Belgian media.
Versluys said he had recently been approached by Ukraine’s state arms exporter and importer about the possibility of buying his tanks. The UK Joint Expeditionary Force , a British-led group that consists of 10 northern European states, has also been in touch since Germany’s announcement about its Leopards, he said. “We are open to all options,” Versluys said. “But the price has to be fair, we are not a charity.
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