Defense Minister Radu Oprea sent the Control Corps to DGARM to verify purchases funded through the SAFE program

Minister of National Defense Ștefan Radu Oprea announced on Thursday that he had sent the Control Body to the General Directorate for Armaments (DGARM), the ministry structure responsible for determining equipment needs and conducting procurements, to review contracts funded through the SAFE program.

The review aims to establish whether the technical specifications requested by the military branches are reflected in the equipment to be purchased, as well as whether the amounts publicly cited are accurate in relation to potential competitors’ offers.

The minister explained that, in the case of SAFE, the procurement contract is separate from the industrial cooperation agreement, which falls under the responsibility of the Ministry of Economy. The equipment can be accepted only after confirmation that the percentage of industrial cooperation required in Romania has been achieved.

Oprea said that decisions regarding the companies selected were made at the Prime Minister’s Chancellery, through a working committee attended by representatives of the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and other institutions. According to the minister, the procurements should have been conducted through DGARM, but responsibility was transferred to the Prime Minister’s Chancellery. He also stated that the defense and economy ministers should have represented the interests of the ministries they led.