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A new scandal regarding regarding the suspension of the tender for the multifunctional corvettes
Damen Company on Saturday specified it received no official information from the Romanian authorities regarding the suspension of the tender for the multifunctional corvettes.
"Up to now, we didn't receive any information from the Romanian authorities regarding the suspension of the tender. This will delay even more the Romanian naval fleet endowment programme. We are waiting for the subsequent notification from the Romanian authorities regarding the tender and this suspension. We are ready to give additional clarifications and Damen will fully and transparently cooperate with the Romanian authorities in relation to this matter, if asked. we fully support the Romanian authorities in conducting the investigation regarding the information that was repeatedly published by the Romania media and that could be considered confidential. We understand the necessity of such verification procedures and we fully support the Romanian authorities, while reiterating that the Damen offer is fully compliant with the tender procedures and in force legislation," specified the company in a release .
In this context, Damen underscored "that the offer is fully complying with the entire programme of endowment of the Romanian Naval Forces fleet." We are confident in our vast experience at the Damen Galati shipyard," shows the release.
On Friday, MApN announced that the secretary of state for Armaments, Andrei Ignat, informed the Minister of Defence, Gabriel Les, that he filed a notification with the Military Prosecutor's Office attached to the Military Court of Appeal regarding the endowment programme with corvettes, the procedure being now suspended.
"The secretary of state for Armaments, Andrei Ignat, in charge with the acquisition procedure related to the essential endowment programme "Multifunctional corvette," presented to the Minister of Defence an information report regarding this topic. "Thus, the secretary of state brought to mind the fact that the Department for Weaponry, under his signature, notified the Military Prosecutor's Office attached to the Military Court of Appeal, of some reasonable suspicions regarding the lawfulness of the procedure, likely to affect the achievement of the national interest in security in what concerns the essential endowment programme "Multifunctional corvette," said a MApN release.
According to the Ministry, the acquisition procedure for the corvettes was suspended.
"Considering this aspect, as well as the fact that, at this date, there is a litigation pending with the Constanta Court of Appeal by which the Constanta SA Shipyard, as part of the "Association between the Naval Group France and the Constanta SA Shipyard" ask for the "cancellation of the Government Decision no. 48/2018," a normative act on which the abovementioned procedure relies, secretary of state for Weaponry, Andrei Ignat, informed with respect to the suspension of the acquisition procedure, until the clarification of the signaled aspects," read the MApN release.
Minister of National Defence, Gabriel Les, on Saturday stated he knew nothing about any suspicions related to the suspension of the acquisition procedures in the case the multifunctional corvettes, underscoring that he will leave this case to prosecutors to solve.
"The contractual authority from the Ministry of National Defence is the Department for Weaponry, from which we received a notification specifying two aspects, (...) some suspicions related to the procedure and an administrative complaint filed by one of the competitors asking for the cancellation of the Government Decision regulating this acquisition. We received a notification on this, which I only read in order to have a slight idea what it's all about, but I prefer not to comment. I leave these matter to prosecutors. Let's just wait and see what their answer will be," Les told Digi 24 television channel over the phone.
He specified that filling the notification with the Prosecutor's Office was only for ensuring that this acquisition procedure is being carried out according to law.
"The stand that the Ministry of National Defence adopted yesterday was only to ensure that this procedure was carried out according to law and, of course, to see what the administrative court has to say in the case of the complaint filed by those from the maritime shipyard," said Les.
He added that any delay is not good, but such "threats or aspects related to less serious issues" are out of question.
"We have the 2% (of the GDP for Defence - editor's note) and this year too we will have the 2%, what's important is that this acquisition takes place according to law, (...) for it's easy to spend money, but it is important to also be able to make a technological transfer so that Romania will benefit from the necessary capabilities and maintenance and other things," completed Gabriel Les.
On Friday, the MApN specified in a press release that the secretary of state for Weaponry, Andrei Ignat, in charge with the acquisition procedure related to the essential endowment programme "Multifunctional corvette," presented to the Minister of Defence an information report regarding this topic. "Thus, the secretary of state brought to mind the fact that the Department for Weaponry, under his signature, notified the Military Prosecutor's Office attached to the Military Court of Appeal, of some reasonable suspicions regarding the lawfulness of the procedure, likely to affect the achievement of the national interest in security in what concerns the essential endowment programme "Multifunctional corvette," showed the same source, also specifying that "considering this aspect, as well as the fact that, at this date, there is a litigation pending with the Constanta Court of Appeal by which the Constanta SA Shipyard, as part of the "Association between the Naval Group France and the Constanta SA Shipyard" ask for the "cancellation of the Government Decision no. 48/2018," a normative act on which the abovementioned procedure relies, secretary of state for Weaponry, Andrei Ignat, informed with respect to the suspension of the acquisition procedure, until the clarification of the signaled aspects."
The endowment programme of the Romanian Army represents both a national and a international priority, since we undertook to contribute to the defence of the NATO and EU borders, the USR (Save Romania Union) Deputy Bogdan Rodeanu, deputy head of the Committee for defence, public order and national security, said on Saturday.
USR also claimed in a post on Facebook that "the new scandal related to the tender organised by the Ministry of National Defence for the corvettes proved that PSD (Social Democratic Party) and Dragnea (Liviu Dragnea, the leader of PSD and Speaker of the Deputies Chamber - editor's note) are incapable of finalizing any agreement, including the most important ones, that have to do with the Army."
"This blockage, simultaneously with the attack against the chief of the Army, does nothing else but destabilizes the Eastern flank of NATO, while directly serving the Russian interests instead, in the context in which Russia is fighting to take control of the Black Sea," said the abovementioned source.
Thus, the USR Deputy Bogdan Rodeanu stated that: "Dragnea's PSD must understand that the Army's endowment programe is not an objective from their colour book named "Governing Programme," but a national and international priority, since we undertook to contribute to the defence of the NATO and EU borders."