Romanians building gunpowder factory with Germans in order to free themselves of dependence on Serbia

After the opening of an ammunition factory in Hungary, the German military-industrial concern Rheinmetall has started building a gunpowder factory in Romania, with the aim of freeing that country from its dependence on Serbia in that process, for which purpose EUR 47 million has been secured from the European Defense Fund (EDF), as reported by the Balkanska bezbedonosna mreza portal.

According to the portal for EU tenders for the allocation of funds to various companies, the works began on August 1 and they are planned to be completed on the last day of January 2027, and in addition to Rheinmetall, the job of the construction of the gunpowder factory also involves the Romanian company Pirochim Victoria, except that 100% of the funds have been provided by the German partner through the EDF.

Romania currently imports the gunpowder for its military industry mostly from Serbia, which is considered a potentially weak point in case of the escalation of the conflicts or the outbreak of a new crisis in Europe. For that reason, the Ministry of Economy of Romania has decided to solve the problem by building a factory of that strategic resource for defense in its territory, in partnership with Germany.

Rheinmetall already has two facilities in the region. Last month, the production of the new-generation Links combat vehicles for the infantry started in Zalaegerszeg in Hungary, and a hundred kilometers from there, in the same country, a facility for the production of the ammunition for such vehicles, tanks and artillery, opened.

The third factory in the region will be built in the Romanian town of Victoria, some 90 kilometers west from the seat of the Brasov County, on an area of 300 hectares and with total investments of EUR 400 million in money and infrastructure.

When the construction of the facility in Romania is completed, it will enable Rheinmetall to fulfill its plans for the annual production of gunpowder for a total of around 700,000 artillery grenades, together with the facilities in Germany, Hungary, South Africa and Australia.

After the additional expansions of the facility, the plan is for that number to exceed one million grenades per year after 2027.

Rheinmetall

Pirochim Victoria

Ministry of Economy of Romania

European Defense Fund

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construction of gunpowder factory in Romania