MOD condemns lies about the Swedish offer of the Gripen fighter jets package

The SVK MOD strongly condemns the lies being spread about the Swedish offer of the Gripen fighter jets package, which appeared in an article written by Vladimír Šnídla and was published by N Daily: “According to Swedes, the Slovak Minister of Defence lied about their offer of the fighter jets package.” The MOD wishes to stay away from the competitive struggles between the two companies and firmly rejects the pressure exerted by one of the companies that wants to influence the selection of the contractor for the delivery of supersonics.

 

In selecting fighter jets, the MOD can work with only official offers. In this case, our partners are the US Government and the Swedish Government. Neither the MOD nor the Minister can negotiate directly with the aircraft producers. If the Swedish producer was serious about constructing a Logistics Centre in Slovakia, this should have been part of the Swedish Government’s offer. However, this is not the case. In view of the misinformation published by the media outlet, the MOD must disagree with the misstatement that a Logistics Centre project has been officially offered to Slovakia. If this were the case, it would have to be part of an official offer.

 

The MOD makes it clear that the conditions for both potential contractors must be the same as per valid legislation. This means that the MOD cannot take into consideration any statements to the media, nor any lobbyist pressure by any of the two competing producers. Complying with the SVK Government’s decision, the only official offers are the ones submitted by the US and Swedish Governments. We must repeat that the construction of a Logistics Centre is not part of the Swedish Government’s offer.