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The government wants every endowment program for the Army to have an offset program, Prime Minister Ludovic Orban said, explaining that the offset is a tool that will be used to support the development of the defence industry in Romania.
"Today we have a meeting scheduled on the agenda at the Ministry of Defence with the team from the Ministry of Defense and the team from the Ministry of Economy. Obviously, we are looking to find the best solutions, so that the Army's Endowment Program will be favorable both to the Romanian defence industry and to identify the possible orders that the Army can make to the factories in the Romanian defence industry, so as to support the activity of these companies," Orban told Wednesday a press conference at the Victoria Palace, when asked if he will have a discussion with trade unionists in the defence industry.
Further asked if the Offset Law will be amended, the prime minister reacted: "I would like us not to receive peas or other forms of offset."
"We would like for each endowment program to have an offset program, such as the Corvette program, which in turn entails, practically, the modernization of the frigates. We would like to have a contract for each program, for example the case of the contract with Iveco for trucks, part of the truck production process to be carried out in Romania. To integrate in the domestic production, with economic operators from Romania, a part of the products, subassemblies, components, spare parts to achieve these machines or acquisitions. It is clear that offset is a tool that we will use for technology transfer and to support the development of the defence industry in Romania," said Orban.
The prime minister had a working meeting on Wednesday at the MApN headquarters, with the Minister of Defense, Nicolae Ciuca, and with the Minister of Economy, Virgil Popescu.
