ROMANIA: THE CORVETTE WAR (5). Why did Constanta Shipyard request the suspension of the procedure? Why does Naval Group not react?

By Constantin Radut
The National Defense Minister Gabriel Leş said Saturday that the suspension of the multifunction corvette acquisition procedure, announced Friday night, is now the responsibility of the criminal investigation authorities.
He stated that the notification of the Prosecutor’s Office regarding the procurement procedure was made only for the safety and full legal validity of this procedure.
“The position that the Ministry of National Defense took yesterday is only to ensure that this procedure has been done with full legal certainty and, of course, to see what the administrative contentious will say regarding the complaint from the Constanta Shipyard,” Leş said .
The minister added that the delay is not beneficial, but it is necessary.
The request for cancellation of the auction for corvettes was requested by Constanta Shipyard (Santierul Naval Constanta), as a plaintiff, against the Romanian Government, through the Ministry of National Defense. The complaint has a deadline at the Constanta Court of Appeal on 16 January.
At present, there is a dispute over the Constanta Court of Appeal, through which Constanta Shipyard, as part of the “Association between the Naval Group France and Constanta Shipyard SA”, requests the “annulment of the GD No 48/2018” which substantiates the above-mentioned procedure.
It is interesting that in some publications in Bucharest, a few days ago, appeared an advertorial entitled “Naval Group and Constanta Naval Station, the best offer for Corvettes of the Naval Forces”. It is shown that “The Association between the Constanta Shipyard and the Naval Group is a major Franco-Roman economic project, which will … make possible a massive transfer of the latest generation technology to the Romanian economy. This will strengthen national capabilities in the field and give the Ministry of National Defense a long-term strategic advantage. ”
What happened? What was outside of the legal regulations in this association? Neither the Romanian company nor the Naval Group say anything.
Why? The French group was expected to have reacted and accused the Romanian authorities of distorting reality.
Why does not Naval Group say anything?
We await the reaction of the French group in the coming days.
The other two companies selected for the construction of corvettes had an open attitude to the created situation
The Italians at Ficantieri have stated that no company representative has ever had contact with representatives of Romanian politics or any other state institution outside of the normal tender for corvettes, according to Mediafax.
Dutch company Damen said on Saturday that it did not receive official information from the Romanian authorities regarding the suspension of the multifunctional corvette auction.
“We are available for further clarification.” Damen will cooperate fully and in a transparent manner with the Romanian authorities on this matter, if requested. “We fully support the Romanian authorities in conducting the investigation on the information repeatedly presented by a part of the Romanian media and which we may consider confidential.We understand the need for verification procedures and fully support the Romanian authorities, reaffirming that Damen’s bid is strictly following the tender procedures and the rules in force, “the company said in a press release issued by Agerpres.
If Naval Group has not expressed its position, the French specialty press keeps its adversary attitude towards Romania and the authorities in Bucharest
For www.opex360.com, suspending the award procedure of a winner to the international auction is a political issue related to the “instability” in Romania (“- in France is better?”- e.n.), corruption, etc. The same scabrous language as La Tribune magazine. The same attitude of arrogance and lack of respect.
We repeat: we expect the Naval Group’s point of view. This is an invitation we are now calling the Naval Group.