MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Spanish shipbuilder defends himself after Uruguay cancels €82 million OPV contract

Cardama wants the agreement to be completed

Mario Cardama, owner of the Spanish shipyard tasked with building two Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs) for Uruguay, whose contract was canceled by Montevideo, insists that his company was also a victim of the bank backing the operation: EuroCommerce Limited.

The Uruguayan government terminated an €82 million contract with the Spanish shipyard Francisco Cardama S.A. for the construction of two Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs) after the discovery of alleged irregularities in the €4.1 million bond issued by the British company EuroCommerce Limited. Uruguayan President Yamandú Orsi called the situation an alleged “fraud” or “swindle.” The shipyard owner denied any intent to defraud and stated that his company was also a victim.

“If the Uruguayan government says I defrauded them, no, in reality, we're all defrauded, if it's their fault,” Cardama argued. “EuroCommerce Bank deceived me; they gave me a guarantee when they lost the ability to provide it. If they're in liquidation, they can't give me a guarantee. I've already formally demanded that they tell me what happened.”

Uruguay's Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Luis Bermúdez, attempted to enforce the guarantee at the address previously associated with EuroCommerce, but instead found a real estate agency. Cardama reported a new address, according to the bank's website. It is a multi-purpose building that houses thousands of other businesses. Moreover, EuroCommerce's website uses a stock image of a Canadian financial institution.

Amid all these irregularities, Cardama argued that its subsequent agreement with EuroCommerce was completely independent and claimed it was unreasonable to verify a bank's ultimate ownership.

“I provide 40, 50, or 60 guarantees a year. It's normal. I wouldn't dream of calling Santander to ask who the owner is,” he explained. Despite the irregularities, Cardama is pushing for the contract to be fulfilled, arguing that the guarantee is “an incidental issue to the contract.”

“Our contract is not a guarantee; it consists of building two ships and delivering them for 82 million euros,” he declared, proposing an alternative solution: “If this incidental, administrative issue is wrong, the logical thing to do is to call me and say: 'Mr. Cardama, this is failing, how do we fix it?' And I say: 'Well, give me a few days and I'll present you with other guarantee options. And you choose them.'”