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Sat, Feb 11 2012
Chopping the chopper project
THE procedure for the implementation of the project for repairing and upgrading Bulgaria's Mi-17 and Mi-24 helicopters has been discredited and should be immediately halted, Angel Naydenov, spokesperson for the Bulgarian Socialist Party and member of the parliamentary committee on international policy, defence and security, said on Tuesday.
He alleged that Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg had pulled strings and lobbied for BAE Systems of the UK to get the business.
The contract signed between the Bulgarian party and the UK company stands at 200 million euro, which is about 50 million euro higher than the offer of the bidder ranked second, Naydenov said.
He said that BAE Systems had no experience in the modernisation of aircraft, helicopters in particular, and had made its name only as a mediator, which put an additional financial burden on the procedure.
He added: "Our most serious concern comes from the fact that this company has been preferred after Saxe-Coburg and the circles around him have exerted pressure. BAE Systems has not been granted the project for having offered high qualities and the best parameters to the deal."
The procedure for the implementation of the project for the modernisation and repair of the helicopters was launched on December 3 last year by Defence Minister Nikolai Svinarov.
In Naydenov's words, the committee which was to assess the offers submitted by that time included no representative of the air force.
Defence Ministry press attache Rumiana Struganova said no contract had been signed as yet for the upgrade of the helicopters. She said an expert group was currently assessing the offers submitted and was due to come up with an official statement by the end of the month.
The Echo also approached BAE Systems which said the company had not signed any contract in Bulgaria and was yet to receive any information from the Defence Ministry about the results of the helicopter tender. BAE systems said it had not entered into any price negotiations with the Bulgarian authorities.
BAE Systems is only one of the companies to have joined the race for the projects. Its rivals are the US's Lockheed Martin, the European consortium EADS, Israel's Elbit, as well as the Russian company that produced the helicopters.
He alleged that Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg had pulled strings and lobbied for BAE Systems of the UK to get the business.
The contract signed between the Bulgarian party and the UK company stands at 200 million euro, which is about 50 million euro higher than the offer of the bidder ranked second, Naydenov said.
He said that BAE Systems had no experience in the modernisation of aircraft, helicopters in particular, and had made its name only as a mediator, which put an additional financial burden on the procedure.
He added: "Our most serious concern comes from the fact that this company has been preferred after Saxe-Coburg and the circles around him have exerted pressure. BAE Systems has not been granted the project for having offered high qualities and the best parameters to the deal."
The procedure for the implementation of the project for the modernisation and repair of the helicopters was launched on December 3 last year by Defence Minister Nikolai Svinarov.
In Naydenov's words, the committee which was to assess the offers submitted by that time included no representative of the air force.
Defence Ministry press attache Rumiana Struganova said no contract had been signed as yet for the upgrade of the helicopters. She said an expert group was currently assessing the offers submitted and was due to come up with an official statement by the end of the month.
The Echo also approached BAE Systems which said the company had not signed any contract in Bulgaria and was yet to receive any information from the Defence Ministry about the results of the helicopter tender. BAE systems said it had not entered into any price negotiations with the Bulgarian authorities.
BAE Systems is only one of the companies to have joined the race for the projects. Its rivals are the US's Lockheed Martin, the European consortium EADS, Israel's Elbit, as well as the Russian company that produced the helicopters.
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