SAFE (Security Action for Europe), i.e. the Instrument for Increasing Europe’s Security, is to amount to €150 billion of low-interest EU loans with a repayment period of almost half a century. Maybe the Orcs will finally be bought from the Polish part of SAFE?
As Radio RMF FM reported today, Deputy Minister of Finance Paweł Karbownik announced that on Thursday a special team was appointed, which is already working on the preparation of loan applications.
This team consists of representatives of the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of National Defence and the Armament Agency. Poland will be able to apply for EUR 20 billion out of this pool of EUR 150 billion, i.e. about PLN 85 billion.
As this money will be granted in the form of loans, the European Commission will only check the formal and legal requirements, but will not discuss the methods of spending it. Poland plans to spend 90% of its loans on purchases in the country and 10% on purchases in Europe.
Deputy Minister of Finance Paweł Karbownik told RMF FM that it is from this 10% that the purchase of three submarines under the Orka program will be financed.
If this happens, it would be a step on the way to fully rebuilding the combat capabilities of our Navy. Poland does not have the ability to build submarines and only their import is an option. Financing them with SAFE funds will result in the loss of the opportunity for South Korea to sell them.
The other bidders, on the other hand, are from Europe and will continue to be in the game. These are the offers of Germany, Italy, France, Sweden and Spain.
Currently, intensive intergovernmental consultations are underway in the Orka programme. They concern the “additional” benefits resulting from the possible purchase of Orks in individual countries.
It can be expected that the next stage will be the political and military selection of a partner or partners with whom the Armaments Agency will conduct further negotiations.
Unconfirmed information shows that the purchase of cruise missiles launched in an underwater position from torpedo tubes is probably excluded from the current stage of the procedure. On the other hand, the manufacturer must guarantee the possibility of integrating its ship with missiles, but selected by Poland separately.
To sum up, this anticipated way of further proceeding with the purchase of Orka submarines, combined with the guarantee of financing from SAFE, may be a breakthrough in the process of acquiring brand new submarines, which has been ongoing since the 1990s.
At the same time, it should be noted that 10% of the EUR 20 billion of possible loans represent EUR 2 billion. On the other hand, the estimated cost of purchasing one ship may reach several hundred million or almost 1 billion euros.
In this case, SAFE will be able to finance the purchase of two units, and the financing of the third will have to be secured in a different way. However, the SAFE system, as in the case of other European projects, may require own contribution, so then it will cover most of the cost of the contract for three vessels.
Maybe this SAFE financing mechanism will be a RESCUE for the Orka program?