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INDUSTRIAL HERITAGE, CRASHED WW2 PLANES, FLOWERFIELDS, SLOVAK TV & TATRA Pix by Kees S, Peter V More Peter V pix at http://www.flickr.com/photos/42057291@N00/sets/72057594117742171/ Lorries offered by Tatra comply with military’s demand – Tatra Ostrava- April 26th. The lorries that the Tatra car maker has offered to supply to the Czech military meet the military’s demands, the plant’s board chairman Igor Vlcek told CTK today, reacting to the Defence Ministry’s alleged dissatisfaction with Tatra’s final bid. After consulting the military, Tatra has equipped the lorries with a number of new military devices. The offer also contains a thorough calculation of the price, Vlcek said. Public Czech Radio (CRo) said on Wednesday that the ministry is not satisfied with Tatra’s bid as it allegedly does not meet the price limit set. Tatra, based in Koprivnice, north Moravia, is to produce about 1,000 lorries for the military in the years to come. “In a situation where no tender was held that would involve more bids, it would be but speculation to ponder about how such a tender would have run and with what result,” Vlcek said. He would not comment more concretely, saying that Tatra has not received the ministry’s official position. The ministry said on Wednesday that it would launch a standard tender for the order, worth 5 billion crowns, unless Tatra agrees to lower its offer’s price. The military prefers the lorries being supplied by a Czech producer, but it is impossible for thus acquired vehicles to be much more expensive than those acquired through a standard tender, Defence Ministry spokesman Andrej Cirtek told CRo. The order was also sought by Renault, Iveco and Mercedes. However, the government decided last autumn that the order would be given to Tatra without any tender. The decision to buy the lorries without a tender had been considered controversial. A legal analysis later confirmed that the purchase was consistent with the Czech and European laws since this is strategic military materiel. Tatra is a long-standing partner of the Czech military, to which it has delivered 2500, chiefly heavy lorries. The Tatras are to replace the obsolete Praga V3Ss and Soviet-made lorries.