Pressure for recognition Naval Group and Constanta Shipyard (SNC) the winners of the corvette tender in Romania

By Constantin Radut
At the Constanta event, where one of the newest Shipyard ships was launched, the President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Romania, Mihai Daraban, talked about the corvette business and the organized tender for their acquisition.
“After the official recognition of the ranking by the National Defense Minister, things are irreversible. No one can play with such players on the international market, as the Naval Group and the other two competitors. I believe that this must be announced officially and things are going to be on the way … Naval Group is an entity that produces classical and atomic propulsion submarines, corvettes, frigates, aircraft carriers … “, said Mihai Daraban.
Europe’s Naval Group Representative France, Laurent Morre, was more cautious in statements. He pointed out that the French government, which is aware of the fact that the Naval Group and the SNC had the best offer, is interested in the selection process, waiting for the outcome of the auction.
“The procedure had two phases, the technical qualification, and the best price. It seems that we have the best price and we understand that, formally, our proposal is the winning one. Naval Group is 65% owned by the French state. We are fully supported by the French government. As concerns very important issues, not only economically, but also strategically, the French government pursues with interest, awaits the outcome. It’s a very big deal, we know it can take longer. Obviously, we are patient, but the French authorities are with us, “said Laurent Morre.
Massi Begous, vice president of the International Industrial Development of the Naval Group, says that the Romanian industry would benefit in the coming decades if the French group were to be elected to build the Corvettes for the Romanian Army.
“Our exclusive SNC partnership will ensure Romania’s sovereignty and autonomy, because SNC, a Romanian company employing Romanian workers, will master the know-how necessary to sustain the whole life cycle of the Corvettes, from construction to maintenance operations and upgrade.
They will be involved not only in building the platform body, but also in highly skilled missions such as integrating the entire combat system and central software. Maintenance and upgrading activities over the life cycle of the ship will provide jobs in the coming decades.
Finally, the exhaustive transfer of Naval Group technology will benefit the entire Romanian naval industry in the long run, creating jobs with high added value beyond the Gowind program, “said Massi Begous, vice president of International Industrial Development at the Naval Group.