The Government agrees by surprise to sell "five combat ships" to Saudi Arabia valued at 2,000 million

The Government has surprisingly reached an agreement of great importance for the sale of five combat ships to Saudi Arabia.

The Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism,

, attended this Wednesday, as part of an official trip to Riyadh, the signing of the agreement of understanding (MoU) between the Ministry of Defense of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, GAMI ( General Authority of Military Industries) and the Spanish company Navantia, according to a statement from his Department.

The MoU is not a firm order yet, but it does "collect the collaboration for a future program of five multi-mission combat ships for the Royal Saudi Naval Force (RSNF), with the aim of having a contract closed during the next year 2023", affirms the Ministry.

Navantia does not provide figures pending the definition of the type of combat ship that will be ordered, but it is expected to be similar to or higher than the five corvettes that were sold to the same country in 2018 for a value of 1,800 million.

, according to experts consulted who assume that the Saudi Navy needs new corvettes or even light frigates.

It secures thousands of jobs in the Bay of Cádiz.

With the new agreement, there would be ten combat ships sold by the state group Navantia.

The first contract is currently underway and the second corvette was delivered last July.

The agreement has been announced in a surprising way without implicating Podemos ministers, normally reluctant to sell war material to Saudi Arabia.

, participated in the event

, who starred in a loud diplomatic incident in 2018 by refusing to sell bombs to the Arab country due to her performance in Yemen.

On the other hand, she has presided over the signing act, none other than the Defense Minister, Prince

, highlighting the importance that her country gives to the memorandum.

For Minister Maroto, this agreement is "the result of intense work between the governments of both countries and is a very important step to guarantee the workload in the Navantia shipyards in Spain, especially in San Fernando, for the next few years" .

According to the statement, "the five ships will be built jointly at the Navantia shipyard in San Fernando (Cádiz) and a shipyard in Saudi Arabia, which will mean an impact of 7,500 qualified jobs between the two," the Ministry of Industry figures.

This agreement, signed between the Vice Minister of Defense,

, and the president of Navantia,

, includes a component of technology transfer (ToT) and localization in the country, in addition to the participation of SAMINavantia as combat system supplier.

The President of the Government,

, has taken care of relations with Saudi Arabia since the Robles incident and has held multiple conversations with the controversial Prime Minister, Crown Prince

, with whom he coincides in G20 meetings.

Sánchez has taken a very pragmatic approach in relations with the powerful Saudi country, avoiding criticism since he came to power in 2018.

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