17 February 2022 · 15:20 by Anne Meisner Synnestvedt
The chairman of the Naalakkersuisut expects the Americans to abide by the agreement that has been given a handshake regarding the service contract at Pituffik. On Wednesday, there was an application deadline.
This week there has been a deadline to bid if you want to win the controversial service contract at Thule Air Base, Pituffik.
But who will win the tender, and therefore in the future, among other things, will have to flip burgers and maintain the base, will not be announced until later in the year.
However, Múte Bourup Egede (IA), chairman of the Naalakkersuisut, reckons that the contract will fall into Greenlandic hands:
Case in point
The case for the service contract at Pituffik started in 2014.
There, the US awarded the contract to US Vectrus Services.
Until then, the contract had been in Danish-Greenlandic hands for many years. The agreement brought in just over DKK 200 million annually to the national treasury.
But according to a defense agreement, the service contract must go to a Danish / Greenlandic company.
Therefore, according to the Kingdom, it was in breach of the agreement between the United States and the Kingdom when Vectrus Services was awarded the contract in 2014.
Vectrus Services has the contract until 2024.
Source: KNR
- Based on what has been agreed, I expect Greenland to get the new service contract, he says to KNR.
- A basis has been agreed for a future service contract, which has been given a handshake. I expect that this will be complied with, and that in this way a basis will be formed for good cooperation in the future.
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When the service contract was last put out to tender, it went to a US company, Vectrus Services. However, both Greenland and Denmark believed that the result of the tender round was in breach of existing agreements with the United States.
It has created frustrations and anger - especially from Greenlandic politicians.
Turning point in 2020
But two years ago, Greenland, Denmark and the USA reached a decisive turning point in the negotiations, when they entered into a new agreement, which will probably get the contract back in Danish-Greenlandic hands.
That is the basis to which the chairman of the Naalakkersuisut refers. According to him, the contract is of great importance.
- It would mean a lot. The case has had great significance for us in principle. I expect and expect that the things that have been agreed towards this tender round will be complied with. It is both the economic and the symbolic.
- Of course we want something out of the things that are going on on Greenlandic soil. Economically, it is jobs that are created and tax revenues that come in that are very important.
- Then there is something completely principled in that when you are on Greenlandic soil, something socially sustainable must also come out of it, says Múte Bourup Egede.
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Although the three countries have given a handshake and laid down guidelines for the tender requirements, nothing is certain until the contract is signed.
It has several experts who follow the case pointed out. Rasmus Leander, a foreign policy researcher at Ilisimatusarfik, did the same a few days ago.
Whether it will affect Greenland's relations with the United States, if it does not go as Múte Bourup Egede expects, he will not answer:
- I can only say that I expect that the agreed basic principles will be adhered to, and that you will thus also get a socially sustainable development out of the things that benefit the Greenlandic people when it takes place on Greenlandic soil.
The same tone sounds from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Copenhagen. Here, there is a clear expectation that the tender winner is a Danish-Greenlandic company.
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KNR has asked for an interview with Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod (S), but it has not been possible. Instead, the Minister has sent a written response:
- I am really satisfied with the result we achieved from the Danish / Greenlandic side in 2020 about the service contract at Pituffik, which will ensure that the contract is awarded to a Danish / Greenlandic company in future.
- It has been a high priority case for both Denmark, Greenland and the USA, and it is my clear expectation that there will be a good result in accordance with our agreement, says Jeppe Kofod.
(20min delay)