France Military News, Reports, Data, etc.
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Jura The idiot
General
Oct 24, 2017
Douze nouveaux Rafale à l'Egypte : Bercy ne bloque plus les négociations
16/11/2017
According to concordant sources, Bercy no longer blocks the continuation of negotiations on a new twelve Rafale contract in Egypt. Cairo asked Paris for payment facilities in the image of the previous contracts signed between Cairo and the manufacturers of French armaments. "It was not conceivable for Egypt that France changes the terms of payment," says one at the Tribune.
During the visit of the three-day Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi to Paris in October, Emmanuel Macron explained to his host that he wanted to continue the relationship of trust between Egypt and France, notably in the framework of strategic partnership between the two countries relaunched in 2015. That's what the Egyptian president was looking for in Paris. For two years, Egypt has launched the modernization of its armed forces with the support of France. Paris is committed to providing new equipment, particularly to the Air Force (24 Rafale, a military telecom satellite) and the Navy (four Gowind corvettes, one FREMM, two BPCs). This represented nearly seven billion euros (6.83 billion) contracts for the French arms industry between 2014 and 2016.
A contract on track
As a result, the Élysée asked Bercy to stop blocking the negotiations to sell the Dassault Aviation fighter. According to our information, it was Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian who brought the new French proposal to Sissi in Sharm el-Sheikh, where a youth forum was being held. The two men maintain very good relations of trust.
The release of payment facilities by the Ministry of Finance is not synonymous with a contract signed tomorrow. Negotiations can resume in a calm atmosphere. Sources interviewed by La Tribune estimated that there was, however, a good chance of success for the signing of a contract in a few weeks.
Egypt gas producer
The Rafale was no exception. Bercy blocked all contracts on Egypt whether military or civil. Why? It is a problem of outstanding on this country. With the important contracts recently signed between the two countries, the envelope allocated by Bercy to Bpifrance (formerly COFACE) on this country is fully used, had it been specified at La Tribune. And Bercy did not want to add an envelope estimating that the country risk could deteriorate. However, according to a source interviewed by La Tribune, there was no default of payment from Egypt.
If Emmanuel Macron has resolved the point of friction between the two countries, it is because he had guarantees. Egypt is expected to grow by 6% annually this year. Cairo has money to pay the bills. In particular, Egypt will be able to rely on gas production in the Mediterranean from the end of this year. In 2015, the Italian energy company ENI discovered on behalf of Egypt a huge offshore gas field in its territorial waters off Port Said (Zohr deposit). Enough to satisfy domestic demand for several decades, to return to the export and thus to benefit from new foreign exchange earnings."
now
Douze nouveaux Rafale à l'Egypte : Bercy ne bloque plus les négociations
16/11/2017
"According to our information, Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian has brought the new French proposal to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi.
According to concordant sources, Bercy no longer blocks the continuation of negotiations on a new twelve Rafale contract in Egypt. Cairo asked Paris for payment facilities in the image of the previous contracts signed between Cairo and the manufacturers of French armaments. "It was not conceivable for Egypt that France changes the terms of payment," says one at the Tribune.
During the visit of the three-day Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi to Paris in October, Emmanuel Macron explained to his host that he wanted to continue the relationship of trust between Egypt and France, notably in the framework of strategic partnership between the two countries relaunched in 2015. That's what the Egyptian president was looking for in Paris. For two years, Egypt has launched the modernization of its armed forces with the support of France. Paris is committed to providing new equipment, particularly to the Air Force (24 Rafale, a military telecom satellite) and the Navy (four Gowind corvettes, one FREMM, two BPCs). This represented nearly seven billion euros (6.83 billion) contracts for the French arms industry between 2014 and 2016.
A contract on track
As a result, the Élysée asked Bercy to stop blocking the negotiations to sell the Dassault Aviation fighter. According to our information, it was Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian who brought the new French proposal to Sissi in Sharm el-Sheikh, where a youth forum was being held. The two men maintain very good relations of trust.
The release of payment facilities by the Ministry of Finance is not synonymous with a contract signed tomorrow. Negotiations can resume in a calm atmosphere. Sources interviewed by La Tribune estimated that there was, however, a good chance of success for the signing of a contract in a few weeks.
Egypt gas producer
The Rafale was no exception. Bercy blocked all contracts on Egypt whether military or civil. Why? It is a problem of outstanding on this country. With the important contracts recently signed between the two countries, the envelope allocated by Bercy to Bpifrance (formerly COFACE) on this country is fully used, had it been specified at La Tribune. And Bercy did not want to add an envelope estimating that the country risk could deteriorate. However, according to a source interviewed by La Tribune, there was no default of payment from Egypt.
If Emmanuel Macron has resolved the point of friction between the two countries, it is because he had guarantees. Egypt is expected to grow by 6% annually this year. Cairo has money to pay the bills. In particular, Egypt will be able to rely on gas production in the Mediterranean from the end of this year. In 2015, the Italian energy company ENI discovered on behalf of Egypt a huge offshore gas field in its territorial waters off Port Said (Zohr deposit). Enough to satisfy domestic demand for several decades, to return to the export and thus to benefit from new foreign exchange earnings."
