The Defence Minister Gabriel Les (photo), listed Tuesday during the presentation of the activity report of MApN the projects for equipping the army considered priorities, of which the naval component has disappeared – the corvettes that the Romanian state was intending to acquire from the Dutch.
„It is for the first time when the major plans are in line with the budget allocations. We shall spend the money responsibly and transparently, by making the most out of the opportunities of revitalizing the national defence industry, pursuing at the same time the adoption of programs for equipping the army addressed to several types of forces and developing those dual-use capabilities for civilian and military purposes.
As main objectives in terms of equipping, I would like to point out: the multirole aircraft program, the 8×8 wheeled armoured personnel carriers, the three-dimensional expeditionary long-range radars, the portable anti-tank missile systems, the utility vehicles and the multipurpose transport platforms”, listed minister Les.
Cancelling the naval procurement seems a logical extension of the statements made by PSD President Liviu Dragnea, who said last week, Wednesday, that the government decision issued by the Ciolos government on the acquisition of the Dutch corvettes for the Romanian army is „illegal” and should be repealed.
Liviu Dragnea’s statements are surprising for several reasons:
- First, because this initiative of amending the programs for equipping the army belongs neither to the Government, nor to the authorities in the field, but to a president of a party, be it the main ruling party.
- Secondly, because the Minister of Defence obeys the party’s decision even if the decision of the former cabinet was the result of a complex and long procedure in which the actual Defence Minister Gabriel Les had a major say, in the position that he held at that moment, of Secretary of State in MapN, appointed by Victor Ponta.
- Thirdly, because it is about a program approved by CSAT on 17 June 2013
Regarding the „illegality” invoked by the head of PSD, we should make a clarification: his fellow member of the government alliance Calin Popescu Tariceanu is the one who blocked in the Parliament, in 2016, the approval of the decision taken by the Ciolos government, so that Liviu Dragnea can now freely speak about „illegality”.
Important note: This article is not advocating the purchase of four Dutch corvettes, as the decision could be subject to critics for other reasons than those stated by the head of PSD, but it emphasizes the politicians’ interests to alter the decisions that are strategic for Romania.
What Liviu Dragnea believes
„There is a serious problem there. (…) We are talking about a major national interest. Whatever the acquisition, we must come to the decision by legal means. That government decision should, therefore, be repealed – this is the first condition. The second condition: we must see what is the most useful option for the Romanian state from all points of view – price, the offset size in Romania, the usefulness of the respective military equipment and our strategic positioning in relation to our NATO partners. All these elements must be considered, as this is how any country in the world does. In that situation, the government decision could not be adopted without the Parliament’s approval. What I believe the Government would do – and should do – is to repeal the government decision and relaunch the legal procedure that would lead to one outcome or another,” said Liviu Dragnea Wednesday at Antena 3.
Liviu Dragnea reminded that the budget allocations to the defence sector are over 2% of GDP and warned: „It does not mean that this money will simply be thrown. First, we need to develop the Romanian defence system, but at the same time to develop in a smart way the relationships with our strategic partners.”
In conclusion, Liviu Dragnea:
- Assigns to Grindeanu government the task of repealing the decision issued by government Ciolos
- Asks for resuming procedures for evaluating the alternative bids, as the contract with the Netherlands seemed „not to intelligently develop the relations with the NATO strategic partners”
Minister Les – asked to annul the work of Secretary of State Les
The analysis of the procurement program for the Navy started 3 years before the mandate of Prime Minister Ciolos, in 2013. In charge of preparing the contracts for the corvettes was the Armaments Department of the Ministry of National Defence.
In October 2015, following a decision of Prime Minister Victor Ponta, the responsibility for coordinating this department has been assigned to a new secretary of state: Gabriel-Benjamin Les, member of PSD Satu Mare.
Noteworthy is that after the government change occurred in December 2015, Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos and Minister Mihnea Motoc maintained the team of secretaries of state from the Ministry of Defence and the State Secretary Les remained in office until October 2016, when he gave up the position for a mandate in Parliament.
The Government adopted one month later the decision on the corvettes, based on the analysis made by the Armaments Department.
Two months later, Gabriel Les, who was nominated for the Minister of Defence position, spoke in front of the Joint Committees of Defence and National Security about this project, introducing important nuances: „The corvettes are set as a required capability, in terms of equipment need for the Romanian army. Of course, they will continue in one way or another. Sooner or later, we shall provide these corvettes, as they are included in the process of equipping the army. There are minimum operational requirements of the force categories that should be met, but this can be achieved with 2,3 or 4 bidders,” says Gabriel Les, according to the verbatim report of the meeting.
Who pushed government decision into „illegality”
During the meeting of the Standing Bureau of the Senate, on 7 November, Calin Popescu Tariceanu and the PSD MPs decided not to approve the initiation of the procurement procedure.
The Chairman of the Senate claimed he did not understand what it was about and the PSD leaders have argued that the Parliament does not have to do what the Government dictates, although the law says that the Parliament has the decision power in this regard.
Verbatim report of Standing Bureau from 7 November
Mr. Calin-Constantin Anton – Popescu-Tariceanu: Paragraph 7, the letter of the Defence, public order and national security commission, asking to be convened for the preliminary approval of the initiation of procedures for the award of the framework agreements – „Multipurpose wheeled transport platforms” and „Multipurpose corvette”. What are these? Could you speak in Romanian for us to understand?
Mr Ioan Chelaru: The committee chairman is present.
Mr. Calin Constantin Anton Popescu-Tariceanu: What are these?
Mr. Marius-Lucian Obreja: Mr. Chairman, the Defence Ministry referred to the Senate, through the committee, the intention to make two important acquisitions subject to the Emergency Ordinance 114. This is a different procurement procedure than the normal Law on procurement and under these circumstances, the Parliament should approve through the joint defence committees this procedure for amounts exceeding EUR 100 million. This approval should be given by the two joint defence committees.
Mr. Calin-Constantin-Anton-Popescu-Tariceanu: So, in short. We do not know if we need a multipurpose wheeled transport platform and a multipurpose corvette, but the Ministry of Defence has decided to make the purchase without a public tender procedure and intends to place all responsibility on us. Did you understand?
Mr Ioan Chelaru: At a cost of EUR 100 thousand or one million, what shall we add?!
Mr. Calin Constantin Anton Popescu-Tariceanu: No, EUR 100 million.
Mr Ioan Chelaru: EUR 100 million euros, we …
Mr. Calin Constantin Anton Popescu-Tariceanu: Or we do not know.
Mr Ioan Chelaru: For some peanuts, what we shall…
Mr. Calin Constantin Anton Popescu-Tariceanu: We do not know how much.
Mr. Marius-Lucian Obreja: If I may, Mr. Chairman, this is the only procedure by which a procurement, again, worth … exceeding EUR 100 million, a military procurement can be made under the Treaty of Romania’s Accession to the EU, otherwise than provided by the public procurement act.
Mr. Niculae Bădălău: The simplest method is a government decision. Let them issue an emergency government decision because it is necessary for the army, but you cannot come to debate that in the Parliament.
Mr. Marius-Lucian Obreja: Please. I am not here the advocate of the Ministry of Defence, I want to follow the Senate’s procedure. We have been noticed and logically we addressed to the Standing Bureau. It is something that is, from the point of view of the Senate, very important, since … The Emergency Ordinance 114 stipulates that within 15 days of the notification of the two Chambers these defence committees, in a joined format, should deliberate, but the ordinance does not say what happens if they do not convene.
Mr. Mihai Viorel Fifor: Sorry, the emergency ordinance … if I may, does the emergency ordinance stipulate how quickly the joined committees should convene?
Mr. Marius-Lucian Obreja: In the text, it is said so, Mr …
Mr. Mihai-Viorel Fifor: I understand.
(Discussions underway in the hall.)
Mr. Calin Constantin Anton Popescu-Tariceanu: I propose to send them to the committees and, as Mr. Vice-chairman Chelaru also said, to give a task to the future parliament. We shall not take a decision now. Yes.
Mr. Marius-Lucian Obreja: It is the best solution. I also say we should send them to the joint standing bureau and joint committees, yes.
Mr. Calin Constantin Anton Popescu-Tariceanu: Ok. Good.
Decision of Ciolos government and a brief history
The Ciolos government adopted on 29 November 2015 the decision for approving the specific circumstances and procedure related to the „Multipurpose corvette” strategic equipping program.
In the concept study for the „Multipurpose corvette” product, prepared by the Ministry of National Defence, there were 13 corvette projects analysed, four of which can meet the Romanian Navy requirements.
The ship construction and equipment will be made in Romania at the Damen Shipyards Galati, part of the Damen Shipyards Group – the Netherland, which will work together with the local companies from the national defence industry, „both for building the corvettes and in projects for upgrading other vessels of the Romanian Navy, as well as for other required compensatory actions (offset) incumbent on the Dutch company,” announced the Ciolos government.
The draft law went for the first time through the procedure of decisional transparency for procurement.
The first official confirmation of Romania’s interest in equipping the Navy came in 2005 from the Defence Minister at the time, Teodor Atanasiu. In an official statement, among other objectives that the MApN had at the moment (acquisition of medium-haul aircraft and at least 24 multirole airplanes), Teodor Atanasiu mentioned 4 multipurpose corvettes and 4 minehunter vessels.
10 years later, on 8 August 2015, Minister Mircea Dusa says: „We have a program planned for a longer period which refers both to the modernization of other Navy vessels and the acquisition of new vessels, especially of corvette type, very necessary to the Navy.”
One year after he left Victoria Palace, in December 2016, former Prime Minister Victor Ponta criticised the idea of acquiring the corvettes from the Dutch company Damen that would cost EUR 1.7 billion compared to EUR 1 billion, the amount from the offer of a Turkish-Romanian consortium that was also upgrading the frigates in Constanta.
Why use corvettes and offers analysed
The program is intended to replace the 4 Tetal vessels (which started to operate in 1981, 1985, 1988 and 1989) having a Romanian design and military equipment imported from the USSR.
In the run-up to the CSAT meeting in 2013, which was to discuss the armament strategy, several foreign companies initiated discussions with the Romanian state, submitted bids, some of them even promoting the idea of investing in the Romanian shipyards.
Companies interested in a contract and their offers:
- BAE Sistems, UK, 3 types of corvettes
- DCNS, France, one type of multipurpose corvette
- Damen Schelde, the Netherlands, 4 types of corvette
- Istanbul Naval Shipyard, Turkey, one type of vessel that can be considered either a corvette or a frigate
- Blohm and Voss- Lurssen- Nordseewerke, Germany, one type of corvette
- Hyundai Heavy Industries, South Korea, one type of corvette
- Kockums AG, Sweden, one type of corvette
- Israel Shipyards Ltd, Israel, one type of corvette
