How much did Egypt pay for Fincantieri’s Fremmas
Fremm Fincantieri to Egypt. What emerges from the surveys of Presa Diretta (Rai3) and Fatto Quotidiano
The two Fremm frigates, built by Fincantieri, a company 70% owned by the State through the Cdp group, initially intended for the Italian Navy, were sold "discounted" to Egypt.
As yesterday's episode of Riccardo Iacona's Presa Diretta broadcast on Rai3 entitled "The dictatorship of weapons", "when the government of Al Sisi decided to buy them, in a few months they were renamed and adapted for the Egyptians with new control systems made by Leonardo, the company 30% owned by Mef. A game of 1 billion and 200 million euros, which brought over one hundred Egyptian soldiers to La Spezia to train ”.
But the Cairo government received a discount for the two Fremm: Egypt spent at least 210 million less than the Italian state.
This is what emerges from an investigation by the Osservatorio Mil € x and Ilfattoquotidiano.it .
Last December 23 with a ceremony "muted and not publicized" Fincantieri delivered to the officers of the Egyptian Navy, at the Muggiano shipyard in La Spezia, the multi-role frigate Fremm Spartaco Schergat, now renamed "Al-Galala". And in mid-February, the second of the two Fremm frigates destined for the Cario began sea trials, as reported by NavalNews .
But it doesn't stop there.
The story of the sale of the Fremm to Egypt is in fact intertwined with the investigation into the crime of Giulio Regeni and with the case of Patrick Zaki, the Egyptian student enrolled at the University of Bologna who has been detained for over a year in Cairo.
"Egypt is increasing arms purchases from Italy to buy the silence of the Italian government on the Regeni case and the violations of rights committed in the country", denounced Ayman Nour, of the opposition party Ghad El-Thawra, during the interview broadcast yesterday by Direct Presa . The dissident, currently in exile in Istanbul, points the finger at Egypt's growing military spending, many of which include contracts with Italian companies.
All the details.
THE DISCOUNTED PRICE OF THE TWO FREMM FRIGATES OF FINCANTIERI IN EGYPT
"From the calculations carried out by Osservatorio Mil € x and Ilfattoquotidiano.it on the Multiannual Programming Document (Dpp) of the Ministry of Defense, it emerges that, in 2020, the estimated expenditure for the construction of all ten new frigates amounts to 5 billion 992 million and 330 thousand euros: about 1.2 billion for a pair of ships ”, reads the in-depth analysis published by the newspaper directed by Peter Gomez.
"But the official documents relating to the deal held by the Fact say that the" Spartaco Schergat "and the" Emilo Bianchi "were sold to al-Sisi for 990 million," the newspaper wrote .
Therefore a discount of at least 210 million euros for the Cairo government, according to the statement directed by Gomez.
"A loss to which management costs, interest on mortgages and the expense for the dismantling of NATO technologies must then be added, which can increase the liabilities up to the figure of 556 million euros", it reads.
THE AMOUNT OF THE SALE NEVER COMMUNICATED BY THE GOVERNMENT
So far the amount of the transaction, carried out under the Conte 2 government, has never been disclosed.
“No competence on the figures”, the Farnesina replied to the request for comment from the daily paper. Neither Fincantieri nor Leonardo commented on the operation.
WHAT FINCANTIERI COMMUNICATED
Suffice it to say that Fincantieri explicitly refers to the sale of two Fremm frigates abroad in the draft budget prepared for the shareholders' meeting on 8 April for the first time in months and, in the explanatory note, mentions the buyer: the Egyptian Navy.
The information is therefore made public more than three months after the delivery of the first ship.
HOW HAS EGYPT PAID FOR THEM?
Presa Diretta has also made it known that Egypt has taken money from banks to buy the Fremmas. “The payment was made thanks to a loan from five banks,” Ayman Nour explained. “All together they have offered 500 million euros”.
THE FREMM PROGRAM
The Fremm is a class of multipurpose frigates designed by the Italian Fincantieri and the French company Naval Group for their respective navies. The Fremm program consists of the construction of 18 ships: 8 for France, 10 for Italy. The first Fremm was delivered in 2012 and the contractual delivery target is 2022 for all 18 frigates.
THE AGREEMENT WITH EGYPT
Also, as NavalNews recalls, the contract with Egypt is expected to include options for two additional newly built frigates, as the program covered four platforms, according to industry sources.
But the naval package would be part of a larger agreement to be signed with Italian industries and which includes Eurofighter Typhoon and numerous Leonardo M-346 training aircraft, plus an observation satellite, for a total value of 10.7 billion dollars. .
WHY DOES EGYPT WANT ITALIAN FREMM?
“The investment is therefore gigantic in favor of the Italian defense industry which will lead to a relationship of cooperation and dependence for decades” said Tom Waldwyn of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in Direct Presa .
"Egypt must protect the Suez Canal and the Zohr fields discovered in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Fremm frigates respond to these interests."
ENERGY INTERESTS IN THE ZOHR FIELD
The sale of arms to Egypt represents "a parallel agreement to the gas exploitation agreement signed at the beginning of 2020", Walwyin pointed out.
ITALIAN LAW
Yet the Italian law (l. 185/90) on arms exports is clear. The export of arms to countries that do not respect human rights is prohibited.
THE SALE OF THE FRIGATES IS INTERTWINED WITH THE REGENI EVENT
“Italy is Egypt's leading exporter of weapons systems”, recalled Ayman Nour, al-Sisi's opponent, during the interview with Presa Direct .
These agreements would aim to wane international attention on the killing of the Italian researcher Giulio Regeni, found dead with evident signs of torture in 2016.
This is a “scandal” which compromises the image of Egypt abroad and which also places the head of state in a bad light. According to Ayman Nour, “every morning Al-Sisi receives an intelligence report with the cases of the people arrested, with a space left blank for him to add notes. The opponent added: "The Regeni case certainly ended up on his desk because the officials knew that the affair would affect relations with Italy".
WHAT THE OPPOSITOR TO THE AL-SIS AYMAN NOUR REGIME SAYS
The forced disappearance and torture suffered by Regeni, Nour accused, "are systematically taking place against the Egyptians". Between 60,000 and 100,000 people would be kept behind bars according to reports cited by Iacona's broadcast. "Since Al-Sisi came to power – reports Ayman Nour – another 13 prisons have been built throughout the country". According to the opponent, the arms business would also be a way for President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi to enrich himself personally: “On Egyptian military orders around the world, Al-Sisi takes 2%. At the moment an expenditure of 80 billion is estimated, the slice for Al-Sisi is therefore equivalent to 800 million dollars which he then deposits in banks in Switzerland and Monaco ”.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/smartcity/quanto-ha-pagato-legitto-per-le-fremm-di-fincantieri/ on Tue, 23 Mar 2021 15:25:58 +0000.