Chair of embattled Swiss defence firm to step down
Nicolas Perrin, the chair of embattled Swiss state-owned defence company Ruag, is stepping down, the group announced on Tuesday.
Nicolas Perrin, the chair of embattled Swiss state-owned defence company Ruag, is stepping down, the group announced on Tuesday.
Perrin was elected to the Ruag board of directors in autumn 2019, moving to his current position at Ruag MRO in June 2020. Perrin had previously held various positions at Swiss Federal Railways for over 30 years. He headed the railway company’s cargo division from 2008.
The Swiss Federal Audit Office (SFAO) announced on Tuesday it had uncovered inconsistencies in a failed bid by Ruag to sell Leopard tanks stored in Italy to the German company Rheinmetall last year. Ruag wanted to sell 96 Leopard 1 tanks to Rheinmetall for transfer to Ukraine, but this was vetoed by the Federal Council.
In 2016, the then Ruag Holding acquired 100 used Leopard 1 tanks and spare parts from the Italian army for CHF4.5 million. The SFAO already identified irregularities in its report.
The federally owned armaments company admitted to the deficiencies issued by the SFAO. The purchase of Italian tanks was carried out by the old holding company.
The Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport stated that it expected “Ruag MRO to immediately rectify obvious deficiencies in its organisation, processes and business activities”.
Based on its own investigations, the board of directors initiated an internal investigation by a law firm, as Ruag MRO revealed in a statement to the SFAO.
Translated from German by DeepL/mga
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