Every time the proclamations on the "welfare" of the military exercises in Sardinia are as loud as the explosions that shatter the promontories and inlets of Capo Teulada without respite. The “spill-over” ads have long been packaged as in a cheap state huckster handbook. The economic renaissance here, in the extreme south of the island, has never gone hand in hand with the impetuous tank tracks that scar in every way what was once a land of farmers and shepherds. In the last meeting of the Comipa, what was supposed to be a joint State - Region joint committee to alleviate the pressure of military servitude in Sardinia, the mandate of dispensing delicacies, rich prizes and cotillons, the palaces of Rome, entrusted it to a high graduated.

Benefactor Admiral

None other than a Division Admiral, Fabio Agostini, sent to the island to tell how "beautiful" and "clean" it was to bomb the coasts of Sardinia, but, above all, how much the Sardinians would have gained from such a great war "wonder" catapulted from half Europe for the great "war", the one to repel the enemy attacking an allied state. The minutes of the Committee, the one that hasn't mitigated anything for some time, is the queen proof of that state "word" that should enchant minors and adults, young and old.

The miracles announced

The inverted comma is a proclamation in a military sauce, almost a triumph of sparkling wealth ready to sprinkle the asphyxiated economy of Teulada and its surroundings with every good thing. The Admiral of State recounts in the minutes: «The Noble Jump 2023 exercise will determine a positive economic impact on the territory with the presence of thousands of people, ensured with the supply of meals, laundry services, construction works to improve accommodation, all services provided locally. It is a pity, however, that not even one of those "holy" resolutions has translated into a miracle.

Curtain on the accounts

When the curtain on Teulada's anti-Russia exercise is falling and the proscenium of "Mare Aperto 2023" is about to open, all that remains is to try to undermine the defense accounts, to understand the rivulets of public spending, the one that very often it is hidden behind secret documents or, in any case, armored in procedures that are never public, always in private and direct negotiation. What we are about to tell you is an exclusive journey into a flood of deeds that provide for a procedure for a select few: "direct assignment even without prior consultation of two or more economic operators". A formula that needs no comments, especially if we consider that the exercise was planned since 2020, with all the times abundantly sufficient to carry out transparent tenders and with maximum public evidence.

Shopping carousel

None of this in the military defense administration armored box. The items of expenditure for an exercise that has mobilized nine nations, with three thousand soldiers declared, are a real unexpected carousel of purchases made in a hurry, with businesses and companies that have sprung up out of nowhere, with one characteristic above all: none of this is Sardinian. In the land of mineral water recognized as the best in the world, you would expect that, given the use of direct negotiation, at least the water can be bought in Sardinia. Instead, nothing. No water on the Nuraghi Island. The device act n.441 of 18 April 2023 is a full-blown "confession": the purchase mandate is pompously entrusted to the glorious Sassari Brigade, appointed in the field as Host Nation Support Unit.

Natural water tide

To buy there is a lot of half-litre bottles of water to quench the thirst of the troops on the Teulada front for the twenty days of war. The purchase device is the stuff of "Nasa" laws, with more than thirty rules invoked to support a sale of mineral water which is consumed, however, all by private treaty and without any competition. The formula adopted by the head of the administrative service of the Brigade is imperative: "I order the assignment to the Campania Alimentare company, via della Stadera 160, Naples, of the supply of 374 thousand half-litre bottles of natural low-mineral water for the price per bottle of 0 ,21 euros». In practice, to quench the thirst of the troops stationed on the forward tip of Sardinia towards Africa, the Generals went to buy water in Naples, 526 km as the crow flies from Sa Portedda, the operational base of the Teulada inter-force range. The payment mandate is impressive: 78,540 euros, without VAT, because you don't pay for the exercises. What is surprising are the dates of the deeds: the provision of assignment is dated 18 April, when the first supply, 15,624 bottles, was scheduled for 15 March. Even the scanning of deliveries is a mystery, given that the day after the closure of the exercise, May 15, a quantity of water was expected, 39,312 bottles, almost equal to peak days.

Price in the dark

Certainly the selling price cannot be compared: the company from Campania had no competitors having been chosen directly without any public tender. Difficult to invoke the usual clauses of the Defense, those of the confidentiality of the supply or copyright: the purchase in Campania of water for exercises in Sardinia has no plausible explanation. It doesn't change for breakfast, which the foreign departments lined up ask for with an "international connotation": awarded to a temporary grouping of companies based in Bologna. Also in this case, the assignment deeds do not show any competition between companies: the award of 240,000 euros of bacon and croissants is exclusive to the Emilian company.

The solitary of Lamezia

But if this is the "price" of eating and drinking, it certainly doesn't go any better for even more significant expenses. There are two interventions for "Noble Jump 2023", planned in Teulada, which leap to the eye: the maintenance of the "encampment" pitches for personnel in training, 1,400 soldiers, and complementary works, for a total of 3 million and 368 thousand euros and the maintenance of building no. 50, former canteen, and complementary works in the Teulada shooting range for 834 thousand euros. In practice, arrange the areas to place the tents of the various regiments and rearrange a building. Nothing transcendental, in short. Nothing secret. It is a pity, however, that the two assignments have a common denominator: despite a multiple invitation to various companies, strangely none shows up, except for a company from Lamezia Terme, in the heart of Calabria. He offers a reduction of 8.90% on the specifications and wins, for over 3 million euros, in total solitude, the arrangement of the pitches with bulldozers for the military's stay under the stars. It goes no differently for the golden maintenance of building number 50 of the Pisano Barracks, still in the Nato enclave of Teulada. Also in this case only one company answers the call, and as in the previous assignment, it has an already known residence: Lamezia Terme, Calabria. Two different companies, but with a single origin.

The Calabrian affair in Teulada

There are, however, details that it is better to limit so as not to omit anything: the company that should have arranged the pitches for the tents in Teulada, for a good three million euros, in 2022 declared a turnover of just one million and 290 thousand euro, with just 8 employees. The declared headquarters of the company in the Calabrian center does not even have an external plaque and the activities inside the building seem to be anything but linked to a construction or earthmoving company. It does not change for the other company awarded the works inside the Pisano Barracks, again for Noble Jump 2023. In the face of works for over 800 thousand euros to be done in Teulada, the Lamezia Terme company, in the last year, declared a turnover of just 494 thousand euros, with just six employees. The headquarters appear to be that of a small village shop that repairs heat pumps and taps. So much so, however, that they were able, from Lamezia Terme, to win, in perfect solitude, two million-dollar jobs on the other side of the Tyrrhenian Sea, on the Island of Sardinia, in spite of Sardinian companies.

Gold waste and sewers

It's not over. A company from Rome was awarded the contract both for the collection of sewage and solid urban waste and was able to propose a 67% discount, as if to say that the forecast of expenditure was far-fetched. In fact, the Army had planned to spend 370,000 euros on sewage disposal and, instead, precisely where more companies participate, it will spend less than 122,000 euros with a saving of 250,000 euros. Last annotation, among the purchases for the Teulada exercise also five thousand euros of "ergonomic seats necessary for carrying out the exercise on behalf of and in favor of the NATO forces". It is appropriate to say that for some it is a war played in an armchair, even ergonomically. So much for the "well-being" announced with great pomp in the land of Sardinia.

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