Rumours of alleged supply of armaments to Myanmar Navy ‘unfounded’ – Leonardo
AEROSPACE, defence and security firm Leonardo S.p.A. has issued a statement denying allegations of it supplying OTO Melara 76/62 guns to the Myanmar Navy.
The statement followed reports by some media outlets that had claimed the Italian company was involved in arms transfers to the Southeast Asian nation, which is currently subjected to international sanctions.
In the statement, issued on Jan 15, the international industrial group categorically denied any rumours of the alleged supply of OTO Melara 76/62 guns to the Myanmar Navy.
It stated that such rumours, reported by some media sources including Il Manifesto and www.janes.com among others, are “entirely unfounded”.
“Leonardo, neither directly nor indirectly through third parties, sells or has ever sold OTO Melara 76/62 guns to the Myanmar Armed Forces. This also includes the period prior to the 1996 arms embargo and the enactment of ‘Legge 185/90’.
Leonardo reiterated that:
– “The contracts that Leonardo enters into for the sale of armament materials to all of its customers, including the OTO Melara 76/62 naval gun and any other technology, are subject to the requirements of ‘Legge 185/90’. As such, these contracts require End User Certificates released by the Government Authorities of the countries where the sales occur.
– “Leonardo has a License Agreement with the company BHEL for the licensed production of the 76/62 gun. This agreement includes clauses prohibiting the sale and exportation without priorauthorization by Leonardo and the relevant Italian Authorities. Regarding the specific rumours on the alleged supply to Myanmar, BHEL confirmed through an official communication on 9 January 2025 that it has never delivered nor exported the 76/62 gun to the Myanmar Navy.
“For completeness of information, Myanmar is included in Leonardo’s list of sensitive countries and, for this reason, no possible transaction – including civil goods – is allowed without an appropriate and careful assessment. Leonardo’s Trade Compliance policies ensure full adherence to applicable laws and regulations set by the relevant authorities. Leonardo constantly and carefully monitors the compliance with laws and regulations, with a continuously evolving internal compliance program, for the purpose of promptly integrating export control laws and regulations and sanctions regimes.
“The company reserves the right to take all necessary actions to defend its reputation against baseless reports in the appropriate forums.”-shp/adj/dl (Pix:LEONARDO)