Prime Minister Ludovic Orban announced on Thursday the unblocking of the amounts necessary for the payments related to the purchase contract for the US Patriot missiles.
"I have to inform you about the unblocking of the two billion US dollars for the payments related to the contract on the Patriot missiles, decided together with the Minister of Finance," Orban told a press conference held at the Ministry of National Defence (MApN).
The major endowment program with the Patriot missile systems provides for the acquisition of seven such systems, four of which are intended for the endowment of the Romanian Air Force General Staff and three - for the Land Forces General Staff. The total value of the program is about 3.9 billion US dollars excluding VAT.
According to the Ministry of National Defence, the first Patriot system delivered to Romania will become operational in 2020, and systems 2, 3 and 4 - in 2022. In 2022, a new generation command station will be delivered to Romania, which detects up to 100 targets, within a radius of 100 kilometers.
Moreover, Prime Minister Ludovic Orban discussed at the MApN headquarters about the process of purchasing the corvettes.
"I understand that it is a procedure blocked in court and that at the moment it is in the appeal phase, we are waiting for the decision of the court of appeal so that we know very clearly what needs to be done next. Of course, we have discussed a lot of details about the endowment program, of the possible cooperation that we can achieve together with foreign companies, between foreign and Romanian companies," added Orban.