Emmanuel Duteil, edited by Clément Perruche
Pierre-Eric Pommellet, the CEO of the manufacturer which was to supply submarines to Australia, came out of his silence. In an interview with “Figaro” Wednesday evening, the leader explained that the company was warned at the last minute that the contract was going to be unilaterally terminated by the Australians.
We were impatiently awaiting his reaction. Pierre-Eric Pommellet, CEO of Naval Group, the French company which was to supply submarines to Australia, broke his silence during an interview in the “Figaro”. The leader denounces a decision “of incredible brutality” which the company did not expect at all.
“All the lights were green”
At Naval Group, we are assured, “all the lights were green”. The submarine maker promises that there were no warning signs. No one asked him, for example, to think about a plan B. On the contrary. Pierre-Eric Pommellet even reveals that he received a letter the very morning of the announcement of the termination of the contract stipulating that everything was ready to move forward on this file. “We received a letter officially informing us that the Australian government had accepted our offer as well as the technical choices which would have made it possible to initiate a new phase of the program”, explains the leader.
A “political” decision
Everything would have been played out in a few hours. That same Wednesday, September 15, the management of Naval Group was invited to a last-minute audio conference with the Australian Minister of Defense. It was there that they heard the news. “We were in shock. This decision was announced to us without any warning, with incredible brutality,” explains Pierre Eric Pommellet, who speaks of a “political decision” and intends to make the Australians pay for this affront. “We are faced with a client who will apply the contract, and as an industrialist we will assert all our rights,” he promises.
Naval Group says it is hit, but not sunk. The group ensures that its order book remains well filled.
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