The Czech Republic is in talks with Germany to receive 15 Leopard 2A4 tanks as a gift to compensate for Czech military support to Ukraine and possibly purchase another 15 from the German defense industry, the Czech Defense Ministry said on Wednesday.

Earlier, the Czechs received 15 Leopard 2A4 tanks as a gift from Germany and plan to order the most modern version – 2A8, the tanks will be delivered in the coming years.

The ministry said the 15 additional tanks to be purchased would cost hundreds of millions of euros and help improve the country’s capabilities as it ditches Soviet-era equipment it has largely gifted to Ukraine.

“If the current negotiations are successful, the Czech Republic will have 42 Leopard 2A4 main battle tanks and evacuation tanks on the same chassis,” the ministry said in a statement.

“After 2030, the Czech army may have more than 100 Leopard tanks of two types in service and in reserve,” he added.

Leopard tanks are jointly produced by Germany’s Rheinmetall RHMG.DE and Krauss-Maffei Wegmann.

The Czech government is negotiating the purchase of about 70 Leopard 2A8 tanks as part of a joint industrial procurement with the German government.

In addition to the 15 already transferred Leopard 2A4s, the Czech army still uses 30 modernized Soviet T-72M4CZ tanks and a few non-modernized T-72s, but most of them were transferred to Ukraine.

The Czech Republic was the first country to send heavy equipment to Ukraine in 2022 and has so far provided 62 T-72 tanks, as well as 131 BMPs, 16 air defense systems and six helicopters from the army reserve, the prime minister said. Petr Fiala, the CTK press agency cites.