A Chinese company with close ties to the country's military and ruling Communist Party will handle parts of the security checks at Arlanda. This is reported by Aftonbladet..
The company Nuctech has won a contract from Swedavia to modernize security checks at Arlanda's Terminal 5. The work is scheduled to be completed in 2023.
The contract shall according to Aftonbladet was signed last Friday.
– They won because they submitted the best bid, says Annika Balazs, strategic procurement manager at Swedavia to Aftonbladet.
Sensitive information
Nuctech is a world-leading manufacturer of screening equipment for people, baggage, cargo packages and vehicles.
According to the AP news agency However, the company has close ties to the Chinese Communist Party and the country's military, which has caused critics to worry that China could access sensitive information through the company.
Nuctech has been blacklisted in the US for precisely that reason, but in Europe it has been more successful and is present in 26 of 27 EU countries according to AP. Including in several European ports and at several European airports.
”Not normal prices”
According to experts that AP spoke to in a number of European countries, Nuctech has bid as low as 30-50 percent below competitors' bids in procurements, something that is possible thanks to the subsidies it receives from the Chinese state.
"Nuctech is making bids that no one can match. These are not normal prices," Didi Kirsten Tatlow, author of the book "China's Quest for Foreign Technology," told the AP.
– It's not a normal company. Rather, they are part of a government development offensive.
Lars Nicander, senior advisor at the Swedish National Academy of Sciences, is also critical of Swedavia's choice of company.
– It sounds strange to choose this company when the same products have been blacklisted elsewhere. It should be a warning bell. We know that the Chinese state uses surveillance systems to vacuum up information and personal data from the Western world, and it is often about backdoors in the systems that leak sensitive information back to China, he tells Aftonbladet.
Swedavia: "Will sign a security agreement"”
In a written comment to SVT Nyheter, Swedavia writes that Nuctech is an established supplier of screening equipment, such as X-ray systems, to a number of airports around Europe.
”"In this case, it concerns a standard system and X-ray equipment for the new security checkpoint that is now being built at Arlanda. The equipment from Nuctech is approved by ECAC, which is the authority responsible for approving screening equipment in Europe. Regarding the agreement, we have followed applicable procurement legislation and the procurement also follows the rules according to the Security Protection Act. Swedavia will sign a security protection agreement with the supplier."”
Source: SVT.se
