As a result of a control visit carried out between September 29 and October 3 of this year at the headquarters of the Army Aeronautical Maintenance Center (CEMAE), the team of the The Comptroller’s Office verified that the contractor company Milenium Veladi Corporation has failed to meet the delivery deadline for three helicopters of Russian manufacture that urgently require major repair (“overhaul”).
In accordance with the contract between CEMAE and Milenium Veladi, this had to complete the technical work in a period of 300 calendar daysHowever, despite the fact that he requested extensions that ended on December 30, 2024 – he was given 139 more days -, so far there is not even a delivery date.
283 calendar days have passed since the last mentioned date, and the repatriation of 456 components that were sent by the contractor to the Russian Federation is still pending. Without these it will be impossible to complete the assembly of the three helicopters.
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Out of all deadlines
The Mi-171Sh helicopter with registration EP666 has a progress of 91%, the Mi-171Shp EP669 has 88% and the Mi-17-1B with registration EP654 with 85%.
This represents a loss in flight hours of S/6.2 million soless, according to the report of the auditors of the Comptroller’s Office.
But, in addition to the economic losses, the most serious aspect of the breach of contract is the impact on the Army’s ability to respond to emergency situations, which was the purpose of the CEMAE contract with Milenium Veladi for US$20.3 million, signed on November 10, 2023.
The auditors determined that There are some components that do not have the manufacturing date and there are others that are more than 15 months old.so “said situation would represent an impact on the effective life of the aforementioned components, which could compromise the operational capacity of the helicopters, considering that to date there is still a delay in the execution of the service (‘overhaul’)”, states the Comptroller’s report.
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An incomplete service
Milenium Veladi requested 151 days, but the Army refused as inadmissible. Then, the company began a conciliation process, which ended on August 27 of this year without reaching any agreement. The deadline for the contractor to request arbitration has also expired.
“Having elapsed 283 calendar days since the completion of the contract execution period of November 10, 2023 for the major maintenance service (‘overhaul’) of three military helicopters (…), the contractor has not completed the full provision of the service, (which) does not allow the operational capacity of the Peruvian Army aircraft to be recovered to respond to emergency situations due to imminent danger,” the report concludes. control.
The company Milenium Veladi, based in Panama, is actually a representative of the Russian state firm Compañía Nacional de Servicios Aeronáuticos (NASC). He CEMAE awarded the contract for US$20.3 million without biddingfor an overvalued amount and has already paid 70% of the total, according to another report from the Comptroller’s Office, which La República reported at the time.
There is a surprising fact in the Comptroller’s inspection report.
It is indicated that on October 23, 2023, the CEMAE delivered the EP654 and EP666 helicopters to Milenium Veladi. That is, 19 days before signing the contract with this companywhich occurred on November 10, 2023.
The Comptroller’s Office has given a period of five business days to the head of the Ministry of Defense, and to the General Commander of the Army, General César Briceño Valdivia, to report on the corrective measures applied to avoid further damage due to non-compliance with the contract.
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