Defense Minister Angel Tîlvăr estimated that the contract regarding the Patriot system, which replaces the one ceded by Romania to Ukraine in September 2024, will be signed in February.
“The US government has made the decision to approve the delivery to Romania of three Patriot systems, which were in the program. In addition to these three systems, regarding this system, which we donated (…) Already, partners from three NATO member states have contributed financially, with Romania only paying the transportation and probably VAT for this equipment. We expect the signing for this system to take place in February,” says the minister.
He stated that “very quickly, this system was approved and the contract will be signed, which is within our estimates, when we made the decision supported by Parliament to make this donation”.
Regarding the transfer of a Patriot system to Ukraine, Tîlvăr says that “it was a country decision”. The production of the three Patriot systems mentioned by Tîlvăr was assigned by the US Department of Defense to the company Raytheon Technologies, the contract having a value of 946,000,000 dollars.
The Patriot system that Romania donated to Ukraine was sent to Kiev based on a law enacted on September 5, 2024. The Ministry of Defense, which initiated this law, says that “the completion of the donation act to Ukraine will contribute to emphasizing Romania’s position as a regional security provider and to strengthening the partnership relationship with the United States of America, which offers an essential guarantee for national security, with increased valences in the current difficult and complex regional and international security environment.” The regulatory act also provides an amount that will need to be covered for the transfer of the Patriot system.
“The equivalent value of taxes and commissions related to the acquisition of a Patriot system, in a configuration similar to the one proposed to be the object of the donation to Ukraine, was estimated at approximately USD 60 million. The funds are fully provided by the budget of the Ministry of National Defense.”
However, the Ministry of National Defense claims that there is a need to restore “ground-based air defense capability, by purchasing from the US Government, through the FMS program, a system similar to the donated one, mainly from non-reimbursable external sources, using specific FMS mechanisms and existing financing opportunities within international partnerships supporting Ukraine.”