After that of the Senate committees, the favourable opinion of the Foreign Affairs and Defence Committees of the Chamber of Deputies has arrived for the Ministry’s decree providing for the free transfer of the Nave Garibaldi to the Navy of the Republic of Indonesia. The operation, on which there was a clash between the majority and the opposition, has thus reached its final epilogue. The sale is expected to be finalised by December 2026.
Why free assignment
According to the indications provided by the Defence General Staff file, the free-of-charge transfer, for a total value estimated at approximately EUR 54 million (54,022,426.67), does not entail additional costs for the state budget, as it does not determine new spending commitments for the Defence Administration. According to the report, ‘the divestment makes it possible to avoid significant maintenance costs currently incurred by the Navy, which for the year 2025 have been quantified at around €5 billion, mainly attributable to the consumption of electricity, surveillance services, security, and minimum activities necessary to ensure the livability and integrity of the platform. Should the unit not be sold,” the document goes on to say, “the Navy would be obliged to start the alienation procedure aimed at the subsequent demolition, the duration of which is estimated at no less than 24 months, with overall costs that can be estimated at around €18.7 million. To these charges could also be added further costs to be borne by the Administration in the event that the demolition were to take place against payment, if – as already seen in previous experiences – no economic operator were to present valid offers for the acquisition of the hull for demolition’. Hence the conclusion of the Defence Staff. “In this context, the free disposal of the naval unit is configured as an economically sustainable and overall more convenient option compared to the alternatives of keeping it in reserve or alienation, allowing the elimination of certain and significant costs and reducing the Administration’s exposure to further future burdens”.
“Operation to conclude new naval contracts with Indonesia”
From an industrial and economic point of view, the dossier underlines that ‘the recent sale to Indonesia of two PPA class naval units, for a total value of about $1.25 billion, has opened a channel of industrial cooperation of particular relevance, which could be further consolidated also through the sale of Nave Garibaldi, with potential economic spin-offs for the national industrial system, including, for example finalisation of further naval contracts, including the supply of 6 DGK class submarines (DRASS), for an estimated value of about €480 million; finalisation of contracts for the supply of M-346 aircraft (about €600 million); supply of no. 3 maritime patrol aircraft (approx. EUR 450 million).
The political tug-of-war
The transfer of the ship to Indonesia free of charge has seen a political clash between the majority and the opposition, both in the passage in the Senate and in the House. The PD and Five Stars have widely criticised the operation. “After about a month of useless discussions today in the Defence Commission of Montecitorio we have reached the final epilogue with the approval of the transfer of Nave Garibaldi to Indonesia,” reads a note by the M5S deputies in the Defence Commission of the Chamber: Arnaldo Lomuti, Marco Pellegrini and Mario Perantoni. “The 5 Star Movement voted against, after the rejection of our request to hear Crosetto and the president of Drass Cappelletti and after the documentary clarifications requested took the form of the viewing of papers of little relevance as they predated the letters from the Indonesian government. On this matter, all the doubts we originally had remain as to why Jakarta proposed the Drass intermediation, what connection there is between this and the Indonesian submarine order, and possible public-private conflicts of interest between Defence and Drass in the light of the close relations between Crosetto and Cappelletti”. “We voted against in the joint Foreign and Defence committees regarding the sale of the Garibaldi ship to Indonesia,” stressed thePd group leaders of the Foreign and Defence committees Enzo Amendola and Stefano Graziano in a joint note. “The documents provided by the majority are totally insufficient for us. We ask to be given the technical documents, also to understand whether or not there are intermediaries between Italia and Indonesia. We are dealing with an affair that still lacks transparency and we ask the government to shed full light on it’.