Senators of the Broad Front They requested a meeting with authorities of the Ministry of National Defensewithin the framework of the Defense Commission of the Upper House, so that they can report on the status of the purchasing process of the OPV type ocean patrol vessels that the government acquired for the Navy.
Three senators from the Broad Front —Sandra Lazo, Benjamin Liberoff and Alejandro Sanchez—, Through a letter, they requested an appearance by the Ministry of Defense at the commission level to try to resolve the doubts that still remain regarding the purchase of the OPVs and the choice of the Spanish shipyard. Cardama to build these vessels. The main question is whether the establishment submitted the necessary guarantee that were required to carry out the process.
According to the members of the opposition bench, on January 25 Cardama sent a note informing about the progress of the procedures to obtain the guarantees requested by Uruguay in the contract. There the Spanish shipyard stated: “According to the aforementioned contract in its article 11 we have to present the document of constitution of a money back guarantee in the amount of the first advance payment for the two vessels, no later than forty-five days from the signing of the said contract, as a condition for its entry into force. Furthermore, Article 27 of the contract establishes the obligation to present a performance guarantee in the amount of 5% of the total contract.”
In this regard, the company added that it had opened a procedure with the fund to establish these guarantees. Small and Medium Shipyards Reconversion Society (Pymar). “Since the Spanish state participates in the board meetings as a member and guarantor of the Pymar process, the institution processes the requests for this type of projects once a month, so our request will be processed at the next board meeting in February,” they had warned.
However, it is not known whether Cardama actually submitted Pymar’s response to the Ministry of Defense, or what stage that process is in.
Doubts in the Broad Front
“Beyond the announcement of the acquisition of the ocean patrol boats, we still do not know. What was Pymar’s recommendation? Has it not been issued from February to June?” Lazo, Liberoff and Sanchez considered in the letter, and added: “Not having a response implies two options; either Pymar did not effectively receive all the information needed from the shipyard so that the team of experienced professionals could carry out the technical, legal and economic study linked to the Naval Guarantee Fundor did not find strengths in the project to issue a guarantee or support for the construction of these vessels.”
Putting on the table that the delivery times was one of the factors that led the government to decide on the Spanish shipyard as the supplier of the ocean patrols, for the Frente Amplio the delivery continues to be delayed: “the important thing seems to be to extend the deadlines for the benefit of a company that, without any credibility for the Spanish bank itself to finance its project, is already six months late in presenting legal guarantees”. A detail of no small importance if one takes into account that the amount of investment for the acquisition of the ships transcends several government administrations.
The purchase was completed in December
The government completed the purchase of two ocean patrol vessels (OPV) for the The national army to the Spanish shipyard Cardama In December of last year, after a controversy with China which included an explicit complaint through a letter against the Uruguayan administration.
The then Minister of Defense Javier Garcia He was in charge of signing the agreement with the company’s president, Mario Cardama, in an operation in which the country will invest 82,372,000 euros.
The first of the patrols was to be delivered over the next 18 months, while the second would arrive a year after that period, as established at the meeting, which was also attended by the Spanish ambassador to Uruguay, Santiago Jiménez Martín. Now, these deadlines are being called into question.
The contract also included the participation of an international classifier, to monitor the construction process of the ships. There will also be a representative of the The national army, responsible for monitoring construction.
Source: Ambito
