Spain to Sign $2.2 Bln Deal to Sell Warships to Saudi Arabia
Spain and Saudi Arabia were due to sign a framework agreement for the purchase of warships worth more than $2 billion on Thursday, a Spanish Defence Ministry source said.
Spanish state-owned shipbuilder Navantia would sell five small warships to the kingdom, and the deal would include the Spanish army training military personnel in Saudi Arabia and building a naval construction centre there, the source said.
The ships would be sold for around 1.8 billion euros ($2.22 billion) in a deal which still requires final signatures from Navantia and the Saudi Defence Ministry, the source said.
The details of the deal were confirmed by two other sources familiar with the matter. Navantia declined to comment.
Prince Mohammed, who serves as defence minister and controls economic and energy policy, is visiting Madrid as part of a European tour, which he began in Paris on Sunday.
Reporting by Jesus Aguado