BONN (dpa-AFX) - Germany's largest arms manufacturer Rheinmetall may set up a joint venture with an armaments group from Ukraine. The Federal Cartel Office has given the go-ahead, the authority announced in Bonn on Thursday.

The joint venture, based in Kiev, is to build and service military vehicles. The partner company is Ukrainian Defense Industry (UDI), a state-owned corporation with about 67,000 employees. "There are no competitive overlaps in Germany as a result of this venture," said Andreas Mundt, head of the Cartel Office.

In addition to this cooperation, Rheinmetall also supplies tanks and ammunition to Ukraine directly from Germany./wdw/DP/men