French aircraft producer Airbus is expected to seek compensation from the Polish government following the scrapping of deal concerning the purchase of 50 Caracal helicopters for the Polish army.
The statement on the subject was issued by the CEO of Airbus, Tom Enders. He went on to say that his company “had never been treated like that” by any client. The negotiations were broken off on Oct. 4, the reason being that the contract was not in the country’s economic and security interest.
Following this, both the French President Francois Hollande and French Defense Minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, called off their visits to Poland. The move was widely criticized in France, with the inside sources reporting France’s plans to review defense cooperation with its NATO ally. France may also seek to pressure Airbus to cancel investment plans in Poland, the daily Gazeta Wyborcza wrote.
The offset detailed in the scrapped deal was almost equal in value to the planned purchase, and was expected to create 3,000 jobs in Poland. Additionally, the offer guaranteed technology and intellectual property transfers to Poland.
Although the previous government of the centre-right Civic Platform (PO) was determined to go through with the deal, the current Polish Prime Minister, Beata Szydło of the Law and Justice (PiS) party said on Monday that her government is eager to purchase military hardware at Polish plants employing Polish workers and paying taxes in Poland. She also said that the government intends to proceed with the purchase of helicopters for the Polish army very quickly.
Polish Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz said, also on Monday, that Poland’s special forces will receive first Black Hawk choppers made by the Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation PZL Mielec still this year. PZL-Mielec aviation plant is owned by Airbus’s rival – American Lockheed Martin concern.
In an open letter to Szydło, published on Tuesday, Guillaume Faury, the CEO of Airbus Helicopters, said that the decision to break off the offset negotiation process was made unilaterally by the Polish Ministry of Development, only a day after Airbus had offered new concessions. He also said that Airbus Helicopters had offered offsets worth 100% of the helicopters. “Although compensation of a value-added tax through offset is not a standard practice, Airbus Helicopters agreed to compensate this gross value,” the letter said.
(The Warsaw Voice/Polish-Swedish Chamber of Commerce)
