December 9 (SeeNews) - Croatia will decide in the beginning of next year on the planned purchase of 12 fighter jets, defence minister Mario Banozic said.
Last month, Croatia began evaluating the binding bids submitted by the U.S., France and Sweden in its fighter jet procurement procedure.
The commission in charge of the procurement procedure has five more days to evaluate the bids and draw a feasibility study that will then serve as a basis for the subsequent adoption of a state-level decision on the purchase, Banozic said in a statement on Tuesday.
He added that once a final decision is taken, a contract is expected to signed in six to eight months.
In November, the U.S. offered to sell Croatia new F-16 Block 70 jets and used Israeli F-16 Block 30 jets, whereas France offered used Rafale jets, and Sweden proposed new JAS-39 C/D Gripen jets.
In September, the defence ministry said Croatia had received initial offers for fighter jet procurement from Sweden, the U.S., France and Israel. Back then, Banozic confirmed that the government is sticking to its plan to buy 12 fighter jets.
In January, the Croatian government sent requests for proposals for the delivery of new fighter jets to the U.S. (F-16), and Sweden (JAS Gripen), and requests for the procurement of used fighter jets to France (Rafale), Italy (Eurofighter) and Norway, Greece and Israel (F-16).