Pátek 29. března 2024, svátek má Taťána
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Military Police machine gun order stopped in tracks

  16:30

An oversight body at the Ministry of Defense has taken the rare step of cancelling an overpriced and opaque arms contract

A Ministry of Defense watchdog has halted the purchase of machine guns for the military police saying that the contract was overpriced. The move is a rare step of an arms deal being halted in a business notorious for overpriced orders, corruption, and the avoidance of public tenders.

The army’s acquisition oversight office said the order for 47 Minimi machine guns from Belgian arms producer FN Herstal was around 15 percent above the going rate for such purchases at Kč  39 million and halted the deal. The order had been made by the ministry’s weapons division which placed the order without a tender using the services of the Czech firm CB Servis.  The division defended itself saying that the price was a ball park one and not the final bill.

The head of the army’s oversight office, Jaroslav Stefec, previously highlighted for Czech Position the trend for an increased number of smaller orders for specialized units being placed, something which made oversight of the deals much more difficult. Czech Position received information that the initial alarm over the strange conditions regarding the machine purchase was raised by the General Secretary at the Ministry, Jan Vylita.

The head of the weapons division is managed by former Civic Democrat (ODS) Prague deputy mayor and now Deputy Defense Minister Rudolf Blažek.  Blažek has received the uncomplimentary nickname of “long-distance controller” from colleagues due to his rare and sporadic appearances at the ministry. Some of the many problems created at the weapons division are in the meantime being solved by other departments.

The White Paper on the future shape of the Czech army that was passed by the government last week counts on the creation of a national office for arms purchases which would ensure that contacts are properly framed, open and competitive.

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