PRAGUE, Dec 16 (Reuters) - Czech defence firm Czechoslovak Group's Tatra Defence Slovakia unit won an over $1 billion contract to supply 4,000 trucks to an unnamed south-east Asian country, the
Czech Defence Group Secures $1 Billion Asian Truck Contract
By Jan Lopatka
PRAGUE, Dec 16 (Reuters) - Czech defence firm Czechoslovak Group said on Tuesday it has won a $1 billion military truck contract from an unnamed Asian customer, as it also opened an artillery ammunition filling line to boost its large-calibre shell capacity.
The moves are the latest for the rapidly-growing company owned by Czech entrepreneur Michal Strnad, which is considering a multi-billion dollar initial public offering.
CSG said its subsidiary Tatra Defence Slovakia secured the contract for 4,000 Tatra T-810 M trucks. They will be manufactured at CSG's Slovak unit MSM Land Systems at Moldava nad Bodvou in eastern Slovakia, creating 300 new jobs there.
Tatra's manufacturing plant in Koprivnice, Czech Republic, "cannot meet the strong global demand for Tatra vehicles, even with steadily increasing capacity," Jan Marinov, chief executive of CSG's Defence division, said in a statement.
Last week, CSG announced a contract worth hundreds of millions of dollars for small-calibre ammunition, also for an unnamed Asian customer. It was not clear if the truck order came from the same country.
TARGETS 1 MILLION SHELL CAPACITY
Also on Tuesday, CSG's subsidiary ZVS Holding, owned jointly with the Slovak government, opened a new large-calibre ammunition filling line in the western Slovak town of Dubnica nad Vahom.
Investment in the line and other improvements totalled nearly 100 million euros ($117.66 million), CSG said.
CSG said the line was a significant step toward its goal to expand its large-calibre capacity to over 1 million shells a year - more than 10 times CSG's capacity before Russia's Ukraine invasion and more than three times what CSG said was Europe's entire capacity before the war.
CSG has invested in acquisitions and modernisation of its large-calibre ammunition production chain across Europe as demand soared after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The company has been a big contributor to the Czech "ammunition initiative" that has delivered millions of artillery, tank and other shells for Ukraine, sourced by CSG and others across the globe.
CSG's ZVS unit also signed a framework deal with the Slovak government on December 5 to create a joint platform to supply European Union nations with ammunition using the EU's SAFE programme, which offers long-term loans to strengthen defence capabilities.
($1 = 0.8499 euros)
(Reporting by Jan Lopatka; Editing by Susan Fenton)
