No irregularities in submarine deal as yet: OAG

BANGKOK, May 9 (TNA) – The Office of Auditor-General (OAG) has not yet found any irregularities in the probe into the 13.5-billion-baht submarine purchase deal, said Auditor General Pisit Leelawachiropas. The OAG is conducting a probe on the procurement of the Yuan-class S26T submarine after the Royal Thai Navy (RTN) provided the related documents to the OAG last week. The Auditor General said the probe has looked into the details of the documents, proposed to the Cabinet and clarification of the RTN. It is the government-to-government deal, made under the regulations of the Bureau of the Budget, said Pisit. According to the plan, the payment for the purchase of the Chinese-made submarine would be allocated from the RTN’s budget, not from the central budget, so it would not have an impact on budget spending of other agencies. About two billion baht will be paid from the navy budget per year and no private company acts as a middleman in the procurement procedure, he said. However, as the probe has not yet finished, he added that if the OAG comes up with any significant observations that the budget spending on the purchase of the submarine could cause any damage, it will give suggestion to the RTN to revise the contract for the utmost benefit (of the country). (TNA)