MINSTRY OF DEFENSE EXPLAINS ITS TIES TO THE BĂBENI CASE: "Our only involvement was in licensing the importing company"

The Ministry of Defense had no knowledge of the destruction of ammunition that occurred at the plant in Băbeni in the county of Vâlcea, Minister Mihai Stănişoară said, during the hearing in front of the Defense Commissions in the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies.

He explained: "The questions of the commission helped elucidate the fact that the Ministry of Defense was not involved in the Băbeni case, as it was not of our competence. The only involvement of the ministry was to license the company that performed the imports".

When asked about the volume of expired ammunition that was involved in this case, Stănişoară said that it was about 1,000 train cars.

According to the Ministry of Defense, the parliamentary commission understood "the distinction between the truth and an article in the press", and has decided that the next hearings will involve the Ministry of the Economy and the Ministry of the Administration and Internal Affairs.

Minister Stănişoară said that the Băbeni Military Unit is a completely private company, which is no longer part of the defense industry.

In agreement with the proposal of the president of the Senate"s Defense Commission, Teodor Meleşcanu, the Minister said that the Agency for Controlling Exports, as well as the Agency for the Payment of Special Technologies should remain "independent".

The "Băbeni" scandal ties to the investigation by journalist Sorin Roşca Stănescu concerning the involvement of the brother of Romania"s president, Mircea Băsescu, in illegal traffic of explosives together with a person suspected of terrorist connections.

The deal involved the illegal exportation of five ships loaded with explosives that was supposed to have been destroyed at the Băbeni Mechanical Plant.