December 20 (SeeNews) - Bulgarian shipyard MTG Dolphin has withdrawn from negotiations with the government for construction of two multi-functional modular patrol ship for the country's Navy, public radio broadcaster BNR said on Wednesday.
"This morning, at 9:00 am, the company sent a letter to the defence ministry informing about its decision to withdraw from the negotiations for signing a contract," BNR quoted defence minister Krassimir Karakachanov as saying.
On Tuesday, during its negotiations with MTG Dolphin, the government approved a change to the original payment schedule proposed by the company, under which an additional 170 million levs ($102.9 million/86.9 million euro) were to be provided to MTG Dolphin, Karakachanov added.
The investment project for acquisition of two multi-functional modular patrol ships for the Bulgarian Navy has an estimated maximum value of 820 million levs and should be completed over a period of five years. The project was endorsed by parliament in June 2016.
In November, the defence ministry said that MTG Dolphin met the technical and financial criteria for the implementation of the project.
The technical proposals submitted by MTG Dolphin meet and considerably exceed the set technical specifications of the project, the defence ministry said at the time. It added that the transfer of high technology is ensured by Dolphin's framework agreements with five leading companies, whose products are established brands on the world market.
The Bulgarian Navy needs to acquire a new type of multi-purpose modular patrol ship in order to be able to take part in a wide range of NATO and EU operations at sea, the ministry said.
(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)