The French group Naval Group believes that the Portuguese Government will choose its proposal to acquire three new frigates, and wants to invest in Arsenal do Alfeite through the creation of a new company.
In a statement sent to the Lusa agency, an official source from the French group said he continues to believe that the Government will close a deal with Naval Group, after on Wednesday the defense ministers of Portugal and Italy signed a declaration of intent on cooperation, especially with an impact on industry, in a context in which the Italians from Fincantieri are competing for the deal with the French.
The Naval Group expressed its conviction that its proposal (which includes the supply of three state-of-the-art frigates, “fully operational and combat proven by 2030”), “is the best and most rational for the Portuguese Navy and for the Portuguese authorities”.
The proposal, still in the evaluation phase, includes a plan to modernize the Arsenal do Alfeite shipyards, which has been experiencing serious financial difficulties for years, through the investment of the “necessary amounts, estimated at several tens of millions of euros” to “create a hub for the naval industry”.
“At the heart of this proposal is the creation of a new company, jointly owned by Naval Group and Arsenal do Alfeite. This new company will manage and execute all future maintenance contracts for the Portuguese Navy, ensuring the highest levels of operational availability and performance. The initiative aims to directly contribute to Portugal’s sovereignty and strategic autonomy and to the consolidation of a sustainable naval industrial ecosystem”, reads a statement released by the group and sent to Lusa.
According to the French group, the new company will “guarantee and develop jobs” at Arsenal do Alfeite and “in many other Portuguese companies in the maintenance field”.
Naval Group also guarantees that “20% of the investment in frigates will be returned to the national economy throughout their life cycle”.
The French are ready to deliver the new frigates in five years “complying with SAFE requirements (Action Instrument for the Security of Europe), “quickly and without risks, as it is already in mass production and has already been delivered to the French Navy and, by the end of the year, to the Hellenic Navy”.
The Government will have to present in Brussels, by the end of the month, its plan to guarantee the envelope of six billion euros in European loans from the SAFE program, which Portugal must execute by 2030.
“The process, until the end of February, will be considered by the European Commission. In truth, I would say that what has to do with SAFE begins at the end of November and there is a long way to go until February. At the moment, in November, we are not deciding what we are going to implement. In fact, what is decided may well have a forecast in November and not materialize in February”, Nuno Melo admitted today.
On Wednesday, at the São Julião da Barra Fort, in Oeiras, with his Italian counterpart Guido Crosetto at his side, Nuno Melo told journalists that, “at this moment, there is no decision” made about the deal.
The Navy currently has five frigates: Vasco da Gama, Álvares Cabral, Corte-Real, Bartolomeu Dias and D. Francisco de Almeida.
On November 5th, during a hearing in the Assembly of the Republic, the Minister of Defense, Nuno Melo, said that the acquisition of frigates was “increasingly a very strong and necessary possibility, taking into account what NATO’s capacity targets are”.