site.btaRomanian Acting Defence Minister: Industry a “Swamp” Needing Cleanup

Romania’s defence industry has operated for decades without significant investment, despite the fact that funds were available in its accounts, acting National Defence Minister Radu-Dinel Miruta said in an interview with Antena 3 Television on Monday.

“The national defence industry, to the surprise of many, had tens of millions of euros in its accounts, in cash, which it had no ability to use. Every year the State allocated funds to this industry for investments, but no such investments were made,” he explained on air.

According to him, the situation in the sector has also arisen because of the high level of corruption there.

“The national defence industry is a swamp. It needs to be cleaned up,” Miruta stressed.

During the interview, the acting National Defence Minister also commented on a scandal involving the state-owned aviation company Avioane Craiova, which derailed a contract for the delivery of F-16 fighter jets for pilot training.

According to Miruta, the Romanian state has been seriously harmed and the company risks having to return an advance payment of approximately EUR 20 mln for the training aircraft, after signing an unfavourable contract with penalty clauses of only EUR 10,000 for the supplier, while owing EUR 30 mln to the Romanian Army. He described the situation as follows: “A fool met a clever person. The fool was the Romanian state, Avioane Craiova; the clever one was the private company.”

The contract with the Romanian Army stipulated that if Avioane Craiova failed to deliver the F-16 aircraft for pilot training on time, it would have to pay penalties. However, the delivery depended on a private company to which Avioane Craiova had set penalties of just EUR 10,000 if the aircraft were not delivered.

“And this (private) company, what do you think, did not deliver (the fighter jets). (…) Beyond the financial losses (for the Romanian state), however, the stakes are strategic for Romania and the entire region, given the war on our borders. Demand for F-16 pilot training is enormous, while existing capacities are limited and extremely expensive,” Miruta added.