The agency approved without objection the acquisition of the Cardama shipyard by the Ministry of Defense.
He Court of Accounts approved the purchase of two OPV vessels by the Ministry of Defense of the Nation by 82 million dollars that will be assigned to the Navy, with the aim of reinforcing the security and patrolling of the waters of Uruguay.
The highest supervisory and control body for the use of public funds in the country gave the no objection to the purchase of the two vessels of the type Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPV) to the Spanish shipyard cardama. This means that the Court approved that the State contract the services of the Galician company, after negotiating the necessary contracts for the execution of the purchase.
The vessels will have a displacement of 1,700 tons, with a length of 86.75 meters, and are based on a design by the well-known Spanish naval engineering firm Cintranaval.
Javier García’s defense against criticism
The decision of the Court of Accounts would seem to put an end to an issue that resulted in several critiques and crosses disputes between different actors who participated at some point in the bidding process for the purchase of the OPV vessels.
The operation was so complex that the Defense Minister himself, Javier Garcia, should have defended it when a harsh letter from the state company reached the government China Shipbuilding Trade (CSTC) questioning the untidyness of the tender —which prevented, in the first place, closing the business with the Asian country while the state company was not selected—; and, almost simultaneously, resigned the Chief of Staff of the Navyrear admiral Gustavo Musso, who had advised against the acquisition of the OPVs from the Cardama shipyard.
In this context, the hierarch defended that the government “made a legitimate decision”, and that throughout the process “all the guarantees were there” and there was “absolute transparency”. Finally, his statements were backed with the approval of the country’s supreme audit body.
Source: Ambito
