Belgian arms trader tangles with minister over tanks for Ukraine

Freddy Versluys, the CEO of Belgian defence company OIP Land Systems, who said could help Ukraine if he received export permits from the Belgian regional government of Wallonia and from Germany to sell is tanks, looks on near armoured vehicles, in a hangar in Tournais, Belgium January 31, 2023. REUTERS/Yves Herman

TOURNAI, Belgium (Reuters) - Freddy Versluys does not like to be called an arms dealer. But he does have a big warehouse full of second-hand tanks for sale.

Standing next to dozens of German-made Leopard 1 tanks and other military vehicles in the chilly warehouse in eastern Belgium, Versluys stressed he is the CEO of two defence companies with a broad range of activities, such as making sensors for spacecraft.