Supplies of tanks and gun-howitzers from Korea at risk? The Deputy Prime Minister has doubts
However, Korean K2 tanks and K9 gun howitzers will not reach Poland. Deputy Prime Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz has doubts about the financing of the contract.
What next with the deliveries of K2 tanks and K9 gun howitzers from South Korea? It seems that the contract is in danger because the new Polish authorities question the profitability of the contract presented by the Koreans. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defense Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz expressed his doubts.
“There is an executive part, a framework part and financial security. The offer, partly presented by the Koreans, of credit, is unacceptable. It is too weak and impossible to implement. It is not attractive enough for us to implement it,” said Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defense Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz at a press conference.
Koreans’ offer unattractive?
His predecessor responded to the allegations of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defense. Mariusz Błaszczak claims that the real intention of the new Ministry of National Defense authorities is to terminate the contract for the supply of equipment from South Korea.
“If, in the opinion of the Ministry of National Defense, the offer is unattractive, it should be negotiated with the Korean side, and not go around the media and complain. Everything indicates that the real intention of Minister Kosiniak-Kamysz and Cezary Tomczyk, who holds the real power at the Ministry of National Defence, is to break off talks on further implementation contracts for K2 tanks and K9 gun howitzers. If this happens, it will be detrimental to our security and the Polish arms industry. Both K2 and K9 are to be ultimately produced in Poland,” former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defense Mariusz Błaszczak replied in an entry on the X website.
The first tanks and gun howitzers from South Korea arrived in Poland at the beginning of December 2022. The acceptance ceremony of equipment purchased for the Polish army took place on Tuesday, December 6, at the Baltic Container Terminal in Gdynia. The delivery arrived in Poland by sea. The equipment was received personally by President Andrzej Duda and Deputy Prime Minister Mariusz Błaszczak.
