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The MiG 21-LanceR aircraft belonging to the Romanian Air Force were not grounded, in the period 2018-2021, due to technical problems caused by the quality of the fuel used, according to a point of view sent on Thursday by the Ministry of National Defense, at the request of AGERPRES.
The clarification was made in the context of an investigation carried out by the Ploiesti Territorial Service of the Directorate for the Investigation of Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT), which concerns "certain deeds committed by some persons within SC JET FLY HUB SRL Ploiesti, a company that supplied turbojet fuel to the Romanian Air Force, in the period 2018-2021".
"In the period 2018-2021, the coefficient of technical readiness of the MiG 21-LanceR aircraft fleet ensured the execution of the entire range of missions, including air policing, by use of this type of aircraft. During the reference period, there were no intervals during which the fleet of MiG 21-LanceR aircraft was grounded for technical reasons caused by the quality of the fuel used. The contractual relationship with SC JET FLY HUB S.R.L. Ploiesti took place between 01.03.2018 and 31.07.2021, the award procedure being open tender, in compliance with the provisions of the relevant legislation," says the quoted source.
The Ministry of National Defense (MApN) states that on December 14, 2018, non-conformities regarding the quality of the delivered fuel were found, and subsequently the supplier was notified of the refusal to receive that batch. Deliveries were resumed when the supplier provided fuel corresponding to the technical specifications in the contract.
The framework agreement was unilaterally terminated by the contracting authority on July 31, 2021, before the originally set deadline, due to repeated delays in the delivery of the contracted fuel quantities.
Regarding the interventions carried out during the respective period for the maintenance of MiG 21-LanceR aircraft, at the level of fuel installations, MApN mentions that they fall into two categories. It is about maintenance works performed within the air bases, under the technical assistance regime, by Aerostar SA Bacau, which aimed at eliminating the premises of accidental contamination of the aircraft fuel installation with external pollutants (water and mechanical impurities), as well as of diagnostic and routine repair work on a series of aircraft engine subassemblies, carried out in the company's facilities in Bacau.
"Currently, we cannot voice an opinion for any of these situations on a potential direct causal link between the quality of the fuel delivered by the supplier in question and the manifestations of the malfunctions reported, these aspects being the subject of a criminal case file instrumented by the Prosecutor's Office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice - D.I.I.C.O.T .- Ploiesti Territorial Service. The General Air Force Staff has made available to this prosecution structure, following the orders of the case prosecutor, all the requested information and documents," the point of view sent by MApN further informs.
The DIICOT Ploiesti prosecutors are conducting investigations in a case in which businessmen Cristian Berendel and Dan Florin Berendel are targeted, among others, the case file documents showing that certain planes belonging to the Ministry of National Defense were damaged after using non-compliant fuel delivered by a company in which the two are involved, and thus the national security would have been affected.
According to the data included in the reasoning of the Ploiesti Court of Appeal, which, in July 2021, rejected DIICOT Ploiesti's proposal to arrest the two businessmen, they were charged with the following offenses: setting up an organized criminal group, false statements, falsifying documents under private signature, deception and acts of diversion, respectively instigation to commit the same acts.
The organized criminal group operated on five levels, its members having well-defined roles, according to the investigators.
"(...) as a result of the use of this fuel, certain planes belonging to the Ministry of National Defense suffered damage. From the investigation conducted in the case of the repairs carried out, in the causes that generated these harmful effects, it emerged that the integrity of the respective aircraft repaired at SC Aerostar was affected. There are witness statements that show the technical failures that occurred as a result of the use of this fuel, the value of the fuel content that led to these degradations. All these things had a major impact to the detriment of national security. It is obvious that, to the extent that military planes suffered such malfunctions and had periods of inactivity, these devices also having a role of defending the country and more, a strategic role, Romania being a NATO member, this condition was fulfilled and the typical elements of the crime of diversion were fulfilled," the quoted document states.
Judicial sources told AGERPRES that the case file is still in the criminal prosecution phase at DIICOT Ploiesti.
