WHO

.

He is a 61-year-old Belgian businessman who bought 50 Leopard I tanks in poor condition five years ago that the country's army wanted to withdraw from service.

He kept them in a warehouse in Tournai, hoping someone would need their parts

WHAT from him.

The Ministry of Defense is outraged that Versluys, who paid a few thousand euros for each part, is now asking them for up to one million per repaired vehicle to send to Ukraine

In a huge hangar in Tournai, 10 kilometers from Brussels, is

one of the keys to the future of

Ukraine

.

Lined up perfectly, in immaculate green and black ranks and not a speck of dust on their 105mm guns, are 50 Leopard I tanks, the ones Kiev begs to be sent and the ones various continental governments are scrambling to get ready to stop the onslaught. feared outpost of the Russian army.

The incredible thing is that the tanks do not belong to the Belgian Army, not anymore.

Not even NATO, which has its headquarters in the capital.

They don't even have anything to do with the European Union, which through the ironically named Mechanism for Peace has mobilized billions of euros to buy arms, ammunition and supplies for Zelensky's troops.

The tanks belong to

Freddy Versluys

, a 61-year-old man, CEO of OIP Land Systems, a company in the Defense field that bought them years ago in a balance and is willing to resell them to the State, or to the country of its choice, in exchange for a few hundred thousands of euros per unit.

A serious man, with silver hair and an encyclopedic memory for vehicle models, weapons, and logistical necessities, Versluys has made a name for himself.

The fact that he has 50 tanks in his backyard would suffice, but it's really because of his clash with Defense Minister

Ludivine Dedonder.

The businessman assures that he paid around 40,000 euros for each tank because they were no longer in good condition (in fact, only 33 were operational) and the Government wanted to get rid of them.

He did it, he explains, as a bet.

Thinking that perhaps someone might want one in the future, or rather, need the spare parts, because as seen these weeks, the tanks, and the Leopard I in particular, have some maintenance problems and are very expensive to fix, and more for Peacetime (Economic) War Budgets.

And he did well and today he poses very proud with his toys.

Minister Dedonder says that he paid 15,000 euros for each one, and that now he is asking for up to a million, which "is not reasonable."

The company assures that this money would include the cost of putting them to work, since only in exchange for the weapons system it represents more than 300,000 euros and removing the asbestos can suppose 75,000 more.

And she is delighted to hear offers, including those from the Zelensky government itself, which has called to inquire about the state of the material, how long it would take to resuscitate them, and what chances there would be of taking them to the battlefield.

There is something profoundly Belgian in the whole story.

That a gentleman from Tournai has more tanks than his country's Army

, that the ministry should not think about it as soon as the debate was activated.

That they dedicate themselves to throwing taunts or that the main buyer so far has been the United Kingdom, which last year took 46 armed cars that it donated to Ukraine.

Or that everything is repeated as a parody.

In 2008 Belgium withdrew the M109s from service, which were bought by the firm Flanders Technical Supply (FTS), which in turn sold them to a British company that ended up sending them to Ukraine, where they have served as basic support for the 17th armored brigade. of the country at the gates of Bakhmut.

They are not Leopard II, they would not be so decisive, but ask at the front if they are worth it and if they want them immediately.

"Despite what many people think, the arms market is a very civilized market," Versluys told Reuters.

More than that of politics at least.

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