Air Force
5 VIP Jets For Poland To Be Financed From The Special Purpose Reserve Fund. Kownacki Reveals The Contracting Schedule
Secretary of State at the Polish Ministry of Defence, Bartosz Kownacki has just revealed the schedule related to the Polish VIP jets tender. “Within the framework of implementation of the public procurement procedure, on 30th August this year, an announcement of the order was handed off for publication in the Official Journal of the European Union” – as it was stated by the deputy Minister. Procurement of the VIP jets is going to be carried out with the use of special purpose reserve fund, which exceeds the 2% of GDP level of defence spending.
Within the upcoming few days, the aforesaid document is about to be published and publicized via the web-page of the Armament Inspectorate. The subject of the order is defined as acquisition of, respectively, two “small” and three “medium” jets, including one featuring an airliner-like passenger cabin layout, along with a logistics and training package and technical documentation.
The Polish Ministry of Defence assumes that selection of the best offer and conclusion of the agreement concerning the “small” jets would take place by the end of this year, while the “medium” jets contracts, due to the complicated nature of the subject of the order and applied procedures, are to be signed in the first quarter of the year 2017. Kownacki also announced that it is planned that maintenance works on the airframes, as well as the operational use, are going to be carried out by a military unit – the 1st Airlift Base located within the premises of the Okęcie airport.
Procurement of the VIP jets is going to be carried out with the use of special purpose reserve fund, which exceeds the 2% of GDP level of defence spending. According to the resolution issued by the Council of Ministers, a sum of 1.7 billion zlotys is to be used to implement the long-term, multi-annual programme, within the period between 2016 and 2021, and assets in an amount of 850 million zlotys ares to be used for the purpose of executing the process in 2016. Throughout the year 2017, PLN 200 million is the amount to be utilized.
What’s significant, the unused amount is going to be transferred for use in the upcoming years. Thanks to the above fact, should the conclusion of the agreements be delayed in comparison with the initial plan, the programme is to be continued and implemented without having a negative impact on the budget of the Ministry of Defence.
JP/RS/PAP