Belgian arms trader tangles with minister over tanks for Ukraine By Reuters

By Andrew Gray

TOURNAI, Belgium (Reuters) – Freddy Versluys does not like to be called an arms dealer. But he does have a big warehouse full of second-hand tanks for sale.

Standing next to dozens of German-made Leopard 1 tanks and other military vehicles in the chilly warehouse in eastern Belgium, Versluys stressed he is the CEO of two defence companies with a broad range of activities, such as making sensors for spacecraft.

But buying and selling weapons is part of his business too. And it’s the tanks that have brought him into the spotlight over the past few days, as he has engaged in a public battle with Belgian Defence Minister Ludivine Dedonder over the possibility of sending them to Ukraine.

While other Western nations have pledged in recent weeks to send main battle tanks to help Ukraine repel Russia’s invasion, Belgium has not joined that group, for one reason above all: It doesn’t have any tanks left. It sold the last of them – a batch of 50 – to Versluys’s company more than five years ago.

Asked why he bought the tanks, Versluys, a silver-haired man in his mid-60s, said that was his company’s business model – it bought unwanted military equipment in the hope that someone else would want it in future.

“There are still countries in the world who have these Leopard 1 tanks. So there’s always a possibility either to sell spare parts or to sell additional tanks,” he said.

But, he added: “Of course, it’s a gamble… Maybe tomorrow we will have to scrap them (or) 10 years later they can still be there.”

Dedonder has said the government has explored the idea of buying back tanks to send them to Ukraine. But she has blasted the prices quoted as “unreasonable” and “extremely high”. Tanks sold for 10-15,000 euros each are being offered for sale at 500,000 euros, despite not being operational, she has said.

The spat highlights a predicament faced by Western governments as they scramble to find more weapons for Ukraine after almost a year of intense warfare – arms they discarded as obsolete are now in high demand, and many are now in the hands of private companies.

Dedonder hasn’t named Versluys’s company, OIP Land Systems, in her…