Gov’t may nix warship contract

ANKARA – ISTANBUL

The Turkish government may cancel a contract to build and develop a warship won by RMK Marine, owned by Koç Holding, Turkey’s biggest company, following a report by the prime minister’s inspection office that said it was not in the public interest, daily Hürriyet reported.

The inspection office prepared a report claiming that the tender result was not in the public interest, and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan then signed the report, according to the Hürriyet story.

The final decision about the contract, which was made under the framework of the national warship program (MİLGEM), has reportedly been expected in a couple of weeks at a Defense Industry Executive Committee meeting.

The executive committee called upon two companies to the tender as finding them prequalified, RMK Marine and Dearsan, another prominent shipyard in Istanbul. RMK Marine was selected on January by the committee to build six follow-on Milgem-class corvettes.

A group of companies reportedly showed their objection for not being invited to the tender in the following weeks.