Gabriel Les on completion of public procurement for corvettes: Extremely important step of Romanian Army

Minister of National Defence Gabriel Les says that the completion of the public procurement procedure for the corvettes is "an extremely important step" that the Romanian Army has taken. 

He said on Wednesday in private broadcaster B1 TV show that the purchase of the four military ships was strictly necessary, given that no major investments have been made in the Navy for the last 30 years. 

"It is an extremely important step that has been taken. It is a procedure that has been delayed for a long time. It is an extremely complex procedure, let us not forget this. It is a capability that we need very fast. As I have said in today's press conference, at the Naval Forces, at the the General Staff of the Naval Forces, the investments were not at the level they should have been. Let us not forget that we have not bought for the Naval Forces such capabilities for more than 30 years and it was extremely important that we do something," Les said. 

He hopes to sign the contract with the Naval Group in France and the Constanta Shipyard in the next three months so that in the next seven years the four corvettes will be produced and delivered to the Naval Forces. 

The Minister of Defence stressed that the high value of the investment for the corvettes, worth more than one billion euro, has raised the interest in the awarding of the contract.