Qatar seals €5 billion navy vessels deal with Italy

Reuters
Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano, left, shakes hands with Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani in Doha, Qatar, on Wednesday. (Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs via AP)

DOHA: Qatar has concluded a €5 billion ($5.91 billion) deal with Italy for seven navy vessels, the Qatari foreign minister said on Wednesday, part of a military cooperation agreement between the two countries.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani made the announcement at a news conference with his Italian counterpart Angelino Alfano in Doha after talks about efforts to end a rift between Qatar and four Arab states.
“I am pleased to announce the conclusion of a deal between the Qatari Emiri Naval Forces to buy 7 naval units from Italy in the context of the joint military cooperation between the two countries,” Sheikh Mohammed said.
He said the deal was estimated at €5 billion but gave no further details and did not name the companies involved.
In June last year, Italy’s state-controlled shipbuilder Fincantieri said it had signed a €4 billion agreement to build ships for Qatar.
At the time Fincantieri said it would supply the Gulf Arab state with four corvette warships, two support vessels and an amphibious landing platform dock, along with support services in Qatar for 15 years after delivery.
All the ships will be built in Italian shipyards, with construction starting in 2018, it said. Italian defense company Leonardo would supply electronics and weapons systems for the ships and receive around a third of the value of the deal, a company official said at the time.
Qatar is embroiled in a dispute with the Anti-Terror Quartet (ATQ) comprising Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the UAE and Egypt, which accuse it of supporting Islamists and regional foe Iran, charges Doha denies.