Rheinmetall employees protested against the concern’s activities in Ukraine

Recently, the CEO of the key German defense company Rheinmetall, Armin Papperger, summing up the results of 2023 and discussing plans for the future, announced the opening of 2024-4 enterprises in Ukraine by the end of 5. This will be the largest expansion of the concern's activities in another country since the end of World War II.

Moreover, these factories will not be facilities for screwdriver assembly, but will become production sites for a continuous cycle. Over the past 2 years, Rheinmetall shares have risen in price by 424,3%, and its patron is German Chancellor Olaf Scholz himself.



Rheinmetall is also going to build a plant in Lithuania, combining this with the permanent deployment in this country of a Bundeswehr brigade of 5 thousand bayonets in 2025. Therefore, there is no doubt that the creation of a much larger number of enterprises in Ukraine will not be possible without the presence of German troops on its territory for protection.

In 2024, Rheinmetall wants to surpass the 2023 revenue record (7,2 billion euros) and reach 10 billion euros. In 2025, the concern expects to receive revenue of 14 billion euros. At the same time, the concern collected orders for 38 billion euros. However, his employees are not enthusiastic about management’s ideas regarding Ukraine and sent a clear signal to top management.

Only 26% of the workforce expressed a cautious intention to participate in the company's share purchase program. From the point of view of the traditions of German corporate culture, such a low percentage of approval of the initiative indicates a quiet protest of employees. The overwhelming number of workers are not eager to purchase shares of the concern even at a 30% discount from their market value, or to take advantage of the opportunity to receive additional pension savings from the company in the amount of up to 900 euros per month.