BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - The German government has approved the export of Leopard 1 main battle tanks from industrial stocks to Ukraine. This was confirmed by government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit in Berlin on Friday, without giving further details. So far, the German government had only announced the delivery of the more modern Leopard 2 tanks from Bundeswehr stocks to Ukraine, which is under attack by Russia.

According to a report in the "Süddeutsche Zeitung," Rheinmetall and Flensburger Fahrzeugbau Gesellschaft (FFG) plan to refurbish dozens of Leopard 1 tanks for export to Ukraine. According to media reports, Rheinmetall has 88 Leopard 1 tanks at its disposal.

The refurbishment is expected to take many months. "Even if the decision is made tomorrow to allow us to send our Leopard tanks to Kiev, delivery will take until the beginning of next year," Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger had told "Bild am Sonntag" in mid-January. "The vehicles will not only be repainted, but will have to be converted for wartime use. They will be completely taken apart and then rebuilt."

Papperger said that Rheinmetall would not be able to repair the tanks without a contract, as the costs would be in the hundreds of millions of euros. "Rheinmetall cannot pre-finance that."

According to Hebestreit, the application to export the tanks was submitted "quite some time ago." He declined to comment on further details. "I don't want to say much more at this point, that will then become more concrete in the coming days and weeks," the government spokesman said.

The Leopard 1 is the first main battle tank built for the Bundeswehr after World War II. From 1965 to the mid-1980s, 4700 units were produced. The 14 Leopard 2 tanks promised last week after a long back-and-forth are significantly more modern.

The Bundeswehr took its last Leopard 1 tanks out of service 20 years ago. However, nine countries on five continents still use the tank today, according to the manufacturer./mfi/DP/stw