by Nirmala Kannangara
- Board of Directors of Lanka Logistics and Technologies Limited had been dissolved on Thursday afternoon on the directives of the Minister of Defence President Maithripala Sirisena
- During President Sirisena’s recent visit to Russia, they have raised concern as to how SLA had allowed Ukranians to refurbish the BTR 80 APC which were manufactured and supplied by the Russian Government
- LLTL had leaked out the tender documents to Ukrinmarsh well ahead they called for international tenders giving only 21 days for the bidders to bid
- The Ambassador had advised the Company Registrar not to register it in Sri Lanka as it is a Ukraine defence supply company
Following our expose on how Lanka Logistics and Technologies Limited (LLTL) on the secret directives of Udayanga Weeratunge floated tenders to select the controversial Ukrinmarsh to refurbish the Russian built BTR 80 Armoued Personnel Carriers (APC) at a time when the Russian Government had agreed to refurbish them under the Russian Credit Line, the Board of Directors of Lanka Logistics and Technologies Limited had been dissolved on Thursday afternoon on the directives of the Minister of Defence President Maithripala Sirisena.
However when contacted Chief Executive Officer LLTL Lalith Liyanage to find out whether the board was dissolved on Thursday, Liyanage said that he cannot make any comment and wanted this newspaper to get the confirmation from the Secretary to Deffence Karunasena Hettiarachchi.
The bidding document that says that the equipment should be delivered within one month from signing the agreement and The bidding document that says that the bidder should possess higher standard of ethics
Secretary to Defence meanwhile confirmed that the LLTL board was dissolved on Thursday on the directives of the Minister of Defence but said that the dissolution was not made because of any irregularities but in order to appoint new faces to the Board.
Additional Secretary Defence R.M.S. Sarath Kumara who is a Director of LLTL Board on Thursday had called for an urgent Board Meeting and had told the members that it had been dissolved with immediate effect by the Defence Ministry. “The Ministry of Defence was monitoring the LLTL affairs very carefully after your newspaper exposed the irregularities carried out by the LLTL together with Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in selecting Ukrinmarsh to supply armoured personnel carriers, spare parts to overhaul existing armoured vehicles and demining and explosive disposal equipments. It is understood during President Sirisena’s recent visit to Russia, they have raised concern as to how SLA had allowed Ukranians to refurbish the BTR 80 APC which were manufactured and supplied by the Russian Government. Considering all these the Board was dissolved on Thursday,” highly reliable Defence sources said on condition of anonymity.
According to the sources, the Ministry of Defence is to allow the three forces and police to do their own procurement by following the government tender guidelines. “It was during the height of the war, the then Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa got LLTL to procure the necessary equipment for the warfront depending on the urgency. Most of the time, LLTL made the purchases without calling for tenders. But now there is no war in the country and does not need any urgency but still LLTL over the past several years has given short notices for the international bidders to bid. Each time it was Ukrinmarsh that had procured the short notice tender,” sources alleged.
Leaked tender documents
According to the sources, it is now revealed as to how LLTL had leaked out the tender documents to Ukrinmarsh well ahead they called for international tenders giving only 21 days for the bidders to bid to supply 14 BTR 80 APCs, spare parts to overhaul the existing BTR APCs and demining and explosive ordinance disposal equipment.
“Despite of the ongoing investigation by the Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) against the MiG 27 aircraft deal involved by Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, Udayanga Weeratunge and Ukrinmarsh, that made huge losses to the country what made LLTL to select the same Ukrainian Company to supply armoured personnel carriers, spare parts to overhaul existing armoured vehicles and demining and explosive disposal equipments to the Sri Lanka Army, although the company does not have the highest standard of ethics.
It is alleged that the Ukrinmarsh is giving protection to Udayanga Weeratunge who is absconding from the Interpol. It is the general practice to give either 45 days or more than that for the international competitive bidders to send their bids. Bypassing the normal procurement guidelines, the LLTL gave only 21 days. How can international competitive bidders send their quotations within such a short period as they need time to make the non refundable payment from their respective countries and send the payment slip to LLTL, obtain the tender documents and do the necessity within 21 days? It is alleged that LLTL and SLA had kept Ukrinmash informed of the tender well before tenders were called, for them to get ready to send their quotations,” sources alleged.
Tenders for these supplies had been called on September 12, 2016 and was closed on October 3, 2016 giving only a 21 day bidding time for the international competitive bidders.
According to the tender document, the items have to be supplied to SLA within 30 days from signing the contract which is impossible unless the party that got the contract has made all arrangements to ship the consignment by the time the contract was signed.
“These vehicles are manufactured in Russia and they too would have sent their bids had they were given enough time. Although LLTL and SLA is making all attempts to offer the tender to Ukrinmash, they will not be able to get the manufacturer authorisation certificate which is from Russia, as specified in the bidding document.
Russia has imposed an embargo on Ukraine and because of the existing embargo, Ukrinmash is considering supplying BTR APCs from Hungary but Russia will step in and block the deal,” sources added. The sources further queried as to why attempts are made to award the tender to a Ukrainian company when there is a Russian credit line worth US $ 400 million, which could have been used to purchase the BTR 80 APSs, spare parts for armoured APCs (Russian origin) and demining and explosive disposal equipment for the combat convoy battalion to be deployed in Mali.
Ukrinmash officials in Sri Lanka
According to the sources, Ukrinmash high officials were in Sri Lanka few months ago and were winning and dinning with LLTL higher officials at a five star hotel in Galle Face. “Since the FCID is now conducting an investigation into the MiG scam, they can obtain more information as to who met these Ukrinmarsh officers and on what basis.
It has also come to light how Ukrinmash had got their defence supply office established in Borella at the same address where their local agent Senka Aero International Pvt Limited is housed at No: 16, (upper floor) Elliot Place, Borella, Colombo 8. When Ukrinmash applied to open their defence supply office in Colombo and wanted to register it under Registrar of Companies, the latter had referred the application for clarification from the Sri Lankan Ambassador to Russia who was overlooking the Ukraine affairs from Moscow, whether it can be registered as a trading company in Sri Lanka. The Ambassador had advised the Company Registrar not to register it in Sri Lanka as it is a Ukraine defence supply company.
Later when the Ambassador to Turkey was appointed to overlook Ukraine affairs, the Company Registrar has once again had forwarded the rejected application to the Sri Lankan Ambassador to Turkey to which the clearance had been given.
As a result, Ukrinmash Defence Supplies Office was established in Borella alleged to be without the Defence Ministry approval,” sources claimed.
Following the LLTL Board dissolution, questions have been raised whether Sri Lanka Army who will be allowed to handle their own procurement procedure in future will stoop to their earlier tactics which were carried out hand in glove with the LLTL, the defence sources said that what they (SLA) did with LLTL cannot be done when they are handling their own procurement procedure.
“The LLTL together with the SLA”s highest level officials were discharging their ‘duties’ to please the Rajapaksa’s which is a well known secret. But when it comes to SLA handling their own procurement process, it is not handled by few individuals but by fifty to sixty army officers. Master General Ordinance publishes the tender the Directorate of Ordinance Supplies handle the tender procedure.
It is not possible for the army hierarchy to influence the bidding process,” sources added.