[News Space=Reporter seungwon lee] LIG Nex1 was disqualified from the Romanian government's short-range air defense system introduction bid due to a document error. It is currently in the process of filing an objection with the Romanian administrative agency. If the objection is accepted, it will be eligible to participate in the bid again.

According to industry sources on the 24th, LIG ​​Nex1 filed an objection to the CNSC, Romania’s public procurement administrative agency, regarding its failed bid on December 16. Earlier this month, LIG ​​Nex1 was eliminated in the second round of bids for Romania’s short-range air defense and ultra-short-range air defense systems.

It has been reported that the main reason for the disqualification was a paperwork error that occurred during the process of submitting the required deposit receipt in the early stages of bidding. The size of the bid deposit is said to be approximately 4.2 million dollars, which is equivalent to 1% of the project cost for the bidding.

LIG Nex1 also claimed in its objection document that it received unfair treatment from the Romanian side during the bidding meeting.

European defense companies MBDA and Germany's DL Defence each sent a four-person delegation to the meeting, while Israeli defense company Rafael Advanced Defence Systems sent a three-person delegation.

However, it was claimed that LIG Nex1 was only allowed to have a maximum of two people attend per meeting.

Romania is a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and is considered a major partner of Korea in the defense industry. In particular, in July, it signed a contract with Hanwha Aerospace to introduce 54 K9 self-propelled howitzers, 36 K10 ammunition resupply vehicles, and ammunition worth a total of 1.3 trillion won, making it the 9th overseas country to introduce K9s.

A LIG Nex1 official said, "There is a difference of opinion between the two parties during the document submission process, and we are currently going through the objection process set by the project management agency."

Yonhap News reported that it sent an email inquiry to the Romanian Ministry of Defense regarding LIG Nex1's position on the objection, but received no response.