Purchase Contract of five helicopters signed

On December 18, 2009, in the Ministry of Defense was held a special ceremony on the occasion of signing the contract for the purchase of five helicopters “COUGAR AS 532 AL”, which will enter into service in our Air Force structures during the 3-4 coming years. Defense Minister Arben Imami, Deputy Minister of Defense Arjan Starova, AF Chief of General Staff, Brigadier General Maksim Malaj, senior directors and military of the Defence Ministry and AF General Staff participated in the ceremony. Ambassador of France to Tirana Maryse Daviet, German Ambassador Bernd Borchardt, Vice President of EUROKOPTER company Mr. France Thomas Hein, as well as other representatives of this company as well attended the ceremony.
The Defense Minister Mr. Arben Imami appreciated the signing of this contract, as a very important moment for the Albanian Armed Forces and particularly the Air Brigade. “Our Armed Forces, are in the path of modernization and are marking new progress in meeting standards and interoperability with NATO”- emphasized the Defense Minister.
The Contract was signed by the Defense Minister Mr. Arben Imami and the Vice President of EUROKOPTER company Mr. France Thomas Hein. The signing of this contract was finalized after a complete and transparent procurement procedure, and was followed by negotiations between experts of the Ministry of Defense and the well-known company EUROKOPTER. Helicopters “AS 532 AL COUGAR” is a military version of the family “Super Puma”. The value of this contract reaches the figure of 78. 633 288 euros. The contract ends in 2013 with the arrival of the last helicopter. This is one of the most major projects of the Albanian Armed Forces and Ministry of Defense in the last 30 years. Through this project, Albania will undertale another significant step in meeting NATO standards and modernization of its Armed Forces.

Meeting with ACT Command on the MoD and AFGS intgrated system

In the farmework of the conclusions of the 2nd Conference of Transformation, held on September 28-29, 2009, NATO team, headed by Frank Boland, Force Planning Dircector in NATO International Staff, had a meeting to discuss about the most sensitive issues of Defense planning, while the structure of the integrated status of MoD and AF GS was the main one. Following this meeting, on December 15, 2009 in the premises of the Military Culutral Center was conducted a “Round Table” with ACT Command, on the MoD and GS integrated system. The purpose of this meeting was the consolidation of opinions about the role and responsibilities of a possible integrating structure of MoD and AFGS, in the interest of AF transformation. Defense Minister Arben Imami, Deputy Minister of Defense Arjan Starova, Chief of General Staff, Brigadier General Maksim Malaj, Deputy Chief of General Staff, Rear Admiral Kristaq Gerveni, and other senior MoD and GS military and civilians, representatives of the Albanian military mission to NATO, as well as ACT Command, representatives from the International Staff (IS), International Military Staff (IMS) and the NATO Command for Transformation (ACT) participated in the meeting. Invited to this meeting were representatives of MAIL-T, CUBIC and DIE, as well as representatives from Norway, Hungary, Finland and Netherlands, who shared their experience regarding the the status of the integrated structure of Mod and AF GS.
Minister Imami, appreciated the work in years of the Albanian Armed Forces, as a story of endeavors in the framework of modernization and standardization, in order to be a dignified part of the Alliance. An integrated civil-military sructure will serve to take appropriate decisions at the right time, emphasized Minister Imami.
The meeting continued with presentations and discussions regarding the analysis of the current structure of MoD and GS, their relation, duplication of duties and overlapping of responsibilities, as well as concrete proposals for the draft integrated structure that will operate in the future.

Donation-Act of equipment that speed up
the ammunition disposal process signed

On 8 December 2009, in the Ministry of Defense was held a special ceremony on the occasion of completing the project for disposal of toxic components of rocket fuel and the signing of the donation act for 6 (six) metal saws to be used in the disassembling process of the surplus ammunition in our country. Defense Minister Arben Imami, Deputy Ministers of Defense, Arjan Starova, Ekrem Spahiu and Zana Xhuka, AF Chief of General Staff Brigadier General Maksim Malaj, generals, directors and senior officers of the  Ministry of Defense and General Staff attended the ceremony. Ambassador of OSCE in Tirana, Robert Bosch, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Denmark, Jensen, the Ambassador of Greece Nicholas Pazios, and representatives of the Swedish Embassy participated in this event as well. Minister of Defense Arben Imami, said that, two are the reasons that have gathered us here, firstly, the fulfillment of the Melanzh  Project, which was successfully carried out by the Swedish specialists  and our Armed Forces. On this occasion, he thanked OSCE, the Governments of  Denmark, Sweden, Greece and Finland for their financial contribution that was so generously givend to this project.
Likewise, we aare participating in this event to thank in particular the Ministry of Defense and the government of Denmark, which  are supporting us with 6 metal saws offered to  our Armed Forces through the OSCE-said Mr. Imami.  Afterwards, Minister Imami spoke about the priority that the Ministry of Defense and the Armed Forces have given to the process of demilitarization and dissassembling of surplus ammunition, as well as the work in process for the re-conceptualization, review and planning of this very important process, by ensuring the support and expertise of our allies, in order to accelerate the process.
Provision of a official certificate by OSCE to the Minister of Defense Imami on the occasion of concluding of the concluding the disposal of 34 tons of toxic fuel missile components, known as Melanzh, present for years in Albania was part of this ceremony as well. This project was established after a request by the Albanian delegation at the OSCE in Vienna and was financed by the governments of Greece, Denmark, Sweden and Finland. The toxic components were transported to a specialized factory in Sweden, where it was burned. Six semi-automatic cutting machinery of the Startrite KMT 350 KSA model will soon be put to work in the demounting units in Polican and Mjekes. They will be used in six demounting lineas of the conventional surplus ammunition while the main purpose is the disposal of about 7 thousand tons of ammunitions in a year.

Brigadier General Maksim Malaj meets with the peacekeeping troops in Herat

On December 12-13, 2009, AF Chief of General Staff, Brigadier General Maksim Malaj paid a visit to our troops serving in the ISAF peacekeeping mission to Herat, Afghanistan. During his visit, Brigadier General Malaj was received at a special meeting by the commander of the western zone (RC WEST) Brigadier General Alessandro Veltri, who expressed his appreciation for the commitment of the Albanian troops in accomplishing the mission.
On his part, Brigadier General Malaj thanked Brigadier General Veltrin for the positive evaluations for the Albanian military, emphasizing at the same time that Albania’s contribution to this mission has increased, as it constitutes one of the priorities of Defence Ministry and Geberal Staff of the Albanian Aramed Forces. General Malaj informed Commander Veltrin about the Albanian Government’s decision to increase military presence in Afghanistan, as well as training of Afghan students in educational institutions of our country. During the meeting he had with our peacekeeping troops, GS Chief Malaj familiarized with the everyday life and difficulties they face in carrying out the mission. Expressing confidence in their professionalism, General Malaj guaranteed the Albanian troops for the support of the Albanian state, the MM and the Armed Forces General Staff.