A Gowind corvette being built in Lorient in Morbihan on January 14, 2022 (AFP/Archives/LOIC VENANCE, -)
Romania announced on Tuesday that it had canceled a tender for warships won by the French Naval Group, the two parties having in the end not signed a contract.
The French defense industry group won the call for tenders in 2019 to build four Gowind corvettes for 1.2 billion euros and renovate two others in partnership with the Romanian company Constanta Shipyard.
But the contract was never signed, despite the desire of the two NATO countries to strengthen security in the Black Sea, a strategic issue of growing importance since the invasion of Ukraine by Russia last year.
“The decision to cancel the procedure was taken (…) because the successful tenderer did not sign the framework agreement within the deadlines requested by the contracting authority”, indicated the Romanian Ministry of Defense in a communicated.
While the Dutch group Damen came second in the tender, Bucharest claims not to have the corresponding funds. “The funds necessary to declare the winner the following operator have not been found,” according to the press release.
Romanian media speculated that the contract was not signed due to attempts to change the initial contract terms, including costs.
The same tender had already been the subject of controversy: according to local media, Romanian officials had tried in the past to thwart Naval Group’s bid, to award the contract to Damen for “political reasons “.
Against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine, Romania, which joined NATO in 2004, has increased its defense spending this year to 2.5% of its GDP, compared to 2% in 2022.
It has also intensified NATO missions, with several thousand soldiers on its soil, including a battle group led by France.
The country also plans to modernize its army and buy equipment, such as American Abrams tanks, submarines and anti-mine vessels.
This year, it acquired 18 Bayraktar TB2 combat drones, a $321 million contract with Turkish company Baykar.
© 2023 AFP
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