On Monday, February 6, the state enterprise VOP CZ and the Ukrainian state concern Ukroboronprom concluded a Memorandum of Understanding in the field of armored vehicle repairs. Novojičínská zbrojovka, which was founded by the Ministry of Defense, mainly deals with repairs of military equipment and engineering production. The company should also participate in the completion of new BVPs.
"We are happy for the outcome of these negotiations and we are ready to actively participate in helping the defense of Ukraine," said Marek Špok, director of VOP CZ, immediately after the signing of the memorandum.
Together with him, the director of the Agency for Intergovernmental Defense Cooperation (AMOS) Aleš Vytečka also signed the document. AMOS acts as the coordinator of the Czech part of the defense-industrial cluster, the creation of which was approved last fall by Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj.
The memorandum of understanding between VOP CZ and Ukroboronprom is the first tangible result of the cluster, which aims to create new Czech-Ukrainian joint ventures with the aim of increasing the production of military equipment for the needs of the armed forces of Ukraine. Cooperation should cover not only the field of heavy equipment, but also small-caliber and large-caliber ammunition, aviation, radars, rocket launchers, and space and satellite technologies.
"The subject of the memorandum is bilateral cooperation on the repair of heavy equipment, it also contains a specific plan and schedule for the implementation of repairs or provision of spare parts," specified Aleš Vytečka, adding that the repairs of Ukrainian armored vehicles will take place in the Czech Republic.
Beyond the signing of the memorandum, a number of other negotiations took place in Ukraine. The Czech Republic is one of the most active supporters of Ukraine in the field of military equipment supplies and defense-industrial cooperation. According to Vytečka, all of this would not have been possible without personal contacts and regular trips to the region. "That's also why the delegation of the Ministries of Defense and Foreign Affairs also included representatives of seven Czech companies, who discussed very specific projects for several days," he revealed.
VOP CZ, sp. is a company fully owned by the Ministry of Defense of the Czech Republic and is profiled in the field of military technology, engineering production and development. It was founded in 1946. Today it employs over 600 employees.
It belongs to the most important manufacturers and providers of repairs, modernizations and services in the field of defense and security in the Czech Republic.
It creates the conditions to strengthen its position as an integrator and supplier of modern military equipment and systems mainly for the Army of the Czech Republic and the security forces of the state.
In the period 1997-2001, the company repaired and modernized a total of 350 BVP-1s to the Pbv 501 version for the Swedish Ministry of Defense. It successfully upgraded 30 tanks to the T-72M4 CZ version.
Between 2009 and 2013, it developed and produced 107 PANDUR II 8×8 – CZ wheeled infantry fighting vehicles, including reconnaissance, medical engineering and command versions or versions for the reconnaissance mission in Afghanistan.
A major project was the production of more than 400 armored cabs for NIMR Automotive from the United Arab Emirates.
VOP CZ also developed its own TAROS autonomous ground robotic platform, which was introduced to the Army of the Czech Republic in 2020.
It is currently supplying the Army of the Czech Republic with a modernized version of the CAPL (tank car - aircraft filler), which serves as a fuel filler for all types of NATO air force equipment.
(ends)
