Romanian state is concerned about saving Mangalia shipyard, through SAFE

The Romanian state is concerned that through this SAFE mechanism, which also brings funding for the naval area, we save the Mangalia shipyard, the Minister of Economy, Digitalization, Entrepreneurship and Tourism, Radu Miruta, told a Monday's briefing at the Victoria Palace."We are concerned, as we announced, that through this SAFE mechanism, which brings funding for the naval area, we save the Mangalia shipyard," the minister said.According to him, the Romanian authorities are in discussions for the production in the country of equipment and armament in the naval and infantry fields."We are in discussions for the naval area, for the infantry fighting vehicle, for the assault weapon, for drones. We are analyzing all possible offers. We received from the Ministry of Defense the operational criteria that these products must meet, and at the Ministry of Economy we are looking for the best commercial option for the Romanian state," added Miruta.He mentioned that there is good collaboration between state institutions."I want to quell any speculation and ensure that there is permanent collaboration between the Ministry of Economy, the Prime Minister's Chancellery, the Ministry of Defense and the Presidential Administration, so that we can identify the best method to deliver the Romanian Army the products it needs. There are commercial discussions that we are analyzing so that we can see that the Romanian state manages to obtain not only a low-interest loan, this interest through SAFE, which is 3%, if in the end the price of the product is two to three times more expensive. We are not just looking to borrow this money at a low interest rate. We are interested in the product obtained using these years to have a fair price", the minister of economy also said.Radu Miruta participated on Monday, together with Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan, in the meeting with representatives of the German defense company Rheinmetall, a delegation led by CEO Armin Papperger. During the meeting, the final collaboration agreement was signed for the making, in Victoria (Brasov County), a strategic investment: a powder factory for ammunition, built from scratch.Romania will benefit from 16.68 billion euros in financing through the European mechanism Security Action for Europe (SAFE), according to the provisional allocations announced by the European Commission for the member states. It is the second allocation in order of magnitude established by the Commission. The list of projects must be sent to the Commission by November 29.Negotiations for accessing European funds through the SAFE program will be finalized these days, with the endowment plans then being approved in the CSAT meeting in the second half of November and subsequently presented to the European Commission.Participation in the SAFE program has three components: defense, budgetary and infrastructure.The SAFE instrument (Security Action for Europe) is a temporary financial mechanism of the European Union, with a budget of 150 billion euros, in the form of low-interest loans, for which 19 member states, including Romania, have expressed interest.