Warsaw (Puls Biznesu) – Investigation has been launched concerning the offset of Rafael. BBC, the company responsible for part of the project, is in the focus.
The Warsaw prosecutor’s office has launched investigation over one of the biggest offset contracts in Poland: the deliveries of Spike missiles. When Israeli Rafael was signing the agreement worth USD 350m 30 months ago, it promised at least USD 440m of offset contracts. It has managed to realize below 10 percent of it so far.
“I confirm that the investigation has been started. It is conducted over the lack of proper supervision of Rafael’s offset program”, Maciej Kujawski, the spokesman of the prosecutor’s office said.
“Puls Biznesu” wrote in November 2005 that there are delays in the offset. While the know-how transfer from Rafael to Mesko metal works where the missiles are to be assembled is going as planned, the part of the offset program not connected with the military sector is far beyond. Beldor Business Corporation (BBC), a Swill company with Israeli capital which was to execute part of the offset, was responsible for the problems. BBC was responsible for the largest project: the acquisition of two gas carriers from Stocznia Gdynia worth USD 168m. It failed.
Meanwhile, Korporacja Polskie Stocznie responsible for the consolidation of the Polish shipyard industry, asked business intelligence to verify the mysterious company. The results were shocking: both the BBC’s and its owner’s credibility was questioned. BBC is owned by Mike and Jack Fliderbaum, his father, who is Poland’s consul in Israel. Jack Fliderbaum allegedly used to boast in front of Rafael’s management that He had very good contacts with Polish authorities. “You won’t have to buy anything in Poland, nor start any cooperation, he’ll take care of everything, bribe this or that and there will be no problem whatsoever”, he would say. Mike Fliderbaum said it was nonsense and BBC was acting in law in order to fulfill all Rafael’s pledges.
So far, next to the failed shipyard project, BBC did not realize the acquisition of Ursus tractors. The contract was worth USD 6m. In January 2006, the Polish Ministry of Economy, said that this project was substituted with something much more interesting: the transfer of know-how from Swedish Ericsson to Radwar. The Warsaw company would producer radars for Loar set. This project is in a very preliminary stage. Yesterday, the Ministry of Economy was unable to say how Rafael’s offset pledges have been realized. Probably the situation has not changed since February 2006 when the offset committee has approved two projects only. One of them consists of a conference center at Hilton hotel worth USD 25.2m and the deliveries of chemical products from Polish Nitrochem to Rafael worth USD 1.1m.