WARSAW (Reuters) -Poland will decide on submarine procurement this week, leading to the purchase of the first submarines by the end of the year, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Tuesday.
Poland aims to acquire three submarines under its “Orka” programme to boost its military, modernise undersea warfare capabilities, and align more closely with NATO in response to what it sees as a growing threat from Russia after Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
“We will adopt a resolution that commits to purchasing submarines by the end of this year. The bids have been reviewed, and now the Polish government will decide who will be the programme’s partner,” Tusk told journalists.
Polish media have reported that offers from fellow-NATO and European Union members Germany, Italy and Sweden were frontrunners in the multi-billion-dollar programme.
Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri and Polish Armaments Group (PGZ) signed a Memorandum of Understanding to support the modernisation of the Polish Navy, with a focus on the Orka submarine acquisition programme, Fincantieri said in a statement earlier this month.
In June, the South Korean shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean added a financing deal to its proposal to sell Poland submarines.
(Reporting by Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk, Pawel Florkiewicz, Barbara Erling; Editing by Ros Russell)
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