Czech military buys another 25 lorries - press

"It is a delivery of vehicles beyond the framework of the originally concluded contract that will be included in an addendum to the contract," Jan Pejsek from the press department of the Defence Ministry said.

Pejsek said this was a demand of the general staff.

"The contract will also contribute to the continued employment of Czechs in the current difficult economic conditions," he added.

Tatra has been facing a big fall in the number of bids and it has sacked over 1,000 employees since last year.

Members of the Chamber of Deputies defence and security committee were taken by surprise by the step and criticise it, Pravo writes.

"The information was not sent to the defence committee. In my view, the number was determined by the contract and it should not be increased," committee deputy chairman Antonin Seda (Social Democrats, CSSD) said.

Seda said at the time when the decision on the purchase of further vehicles was made the military had received another seven vehicles free from Tatra.

Pejsek told Pravo this was a discount with which Tatra has reacted to the increased exchange rate of the crown toward the euro.

The delivery of 556 lorries from Tatra, one of the biggest contracts of the Czech military, was dogged with problems since the beginning.

The new lorries T 810 were to be originally accepted by the military in November 2007. But due to the problems that were revealed during tests the delivery was postponed.

The military eventually only obtained the first lorries at the end of last March. The car maker had to pay a large penalty whose sum was not published.

($1 = 17.597 crowns)

Autor: ČTK
www.ctk.cz