According to Reuters, South Korea's Hanwha Aerospace said on Wednesday it won a 1.38 trillion won ($1 billion) order from Romania to supply self-propelled howitzers. The deal is Romania's largest arms acquisition deal in seven years and includes 54 K9 howitzers, ammunition and 36 K10 resupply vehicles, South Korea's largest defence company by revenue said. The contract lasts until July 2029, Hanwha Aerospace said. The South Korean arms procurement agency, Defense Acquisition Program Administration, confirmed the details of the deal in a separate statement. Hanwha Aerospace shares rose more than 5% to a record high in early morning trade, versus a 0.1% drop in the wider market. Overseas orders for Hanwha have jumped since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 as countries sought to bolster their arms with quick, reliable supply, analysts said. Hanwha's land defence business has seen its order backlog swell to about 30 trillion won at the end of March this year from 5.1 trillion won at end-2021. Analysts said South Korean defence firms are able to ship arms quickly with lower costs and provide continual maintenance partly due to the economy of scale from supplying the standing armed forces in South Korea, which is still technically at war with North Korea. Hanwha now holds more than 50% share of the global market for howitzer exports, according to data by NH Investment & Securities. "Given that the end of a war does not mean an end to the growth of defence spending, and that (U.S. presidential candidate Donald) Trump explicitly demanded that NATO and other European countries increase their share of defence costs, opportunities are expected to expand" for South Korean defence firms, said Meritz Securities analyst Lee Ji-ho in a note on Tuesday.
Traffic is restricted in central Bucharest after local authorities started work at the degraded Unirii platform. Splaiul Independenței, between Națiunile Unite Square and Unirii Square, is the first area with restrictions. District 4 mayor Daniel Băluță, who heads the reconstruction project valued at RON 800 million (EUR 158.6 million), said that the areas in front […]
The "Pământul Strămoșesc" Association, founded by former presidential candidate Călin Georgescu and several others, announced on Friday, June 6, that it will dissolve. The association, named after a Legionary magazine that circulated during the interwar period, was established in 2021 by Călin Georgescu, along with a former AUR parliamentary candidate and former officer of the […]
EVConnect, one of the pioneers in electromobility in Romania, announced a strategic partnership with Selgros, dedicated to expanding the electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure. The collaboration aims to install over 40 charging stations in Selgros commercial centers’ parking lots, providing customers with access to fast EV charging options. The first charging stations are already operational […]
Roughly 5,000 soldiers from Italy, Moldova, Romania, and the United States are participating in the multinational Saber Guardian 25 (SG25) exercise, running from June 9 to 24. The exercise is led by the US Army Europe (USAREUR) and the Romanian Joint Forces Command “General Ioan Emanoil Florescu.” Military activities take place across multiple training areas […]
Protests that were initially peaceful quickly turned violent after two 14-year-old Romanian boys were charged with the rape of a teenage girl in the small town of Ballymena, Northern Ireland. The alleged rape took place Saturday, June 7, and their case was heard the following Monday. The BBC, which did not release the identities of […]
The Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR) has launched a public appeal for donations to support the community of Praid, where devastating flooding recently forced the closure of the area’s salt mine and brought tourism to a standstill. Flooding completely disrupted operations at the Praid salt mine, a major economic driver in the region. […]
