Competition Council Looks Into Arms Procurement

The Competition Council last week started an investigation concerning possible frauds committed by the Arms Department (Military Base 02550 Bucharest) of the Ministry of Defence in organizing tenders between 2005 and 2007.

The Competition Council informed that the investigation was focused on a possible agreement among four companies registered in Romania, Germany and Switzerland to rig the bids they submitted to tenders organised by the Romanian Ministry of Defence to procure infantry weapons and optical equipment.

Sources from the Competition Council indicated that the investigation was currently focusing on the contracts signed with Transcarpat Sportours International SRL (Romania), San Swiss Arms AG (Switzerland), Brugger & Thomet AG (Switzerland) and J.P. Sauer & Sohn (Germany).

Contacted by BURSA, Competition Council Chairman Bogdan Chiritoiu said the Council had started the investigation ex officio following a notification from the Ministry of Defence, which had previously performed an internal investigation concerning the respective base. "Such agreement can have very severe consequences by distorting free competition and bearing negative effects on commerce among Member States, as the case concerns companies from Romania, the European Union and a non-EU country. Such commercial behaviour violates both Romanian laws on competition and the Treaty establishing the European Community," Chiritoiu said.

Transcarpat Sportours International, controlled by Dinu Solojan, won several contracts totalling over 500,000 RON, awarded by different bases of the Ministry of Defence in 2007, according to our information. The German-based company, J.P. Sauer & Sohn, controls the Romanian-based Romsauer, which was acquired from the same Dinu Solojan, the same sources indicated. The representatives of the companies currently investigated by the Competition Council could not be contacted for comment by print time.