Denmark’s pensions lobby group said it is pleased a new official report contains a concrete model for pension funds cooperating in the creation of the new warships – which the country needs amid heightened military tensions in Europe.
Kent Damsgaard, chief executive officer of Insurance & Pension Denmark (IPD), said yesterday: “It is against a sad backdrop of war in Europe that we are faced with a renewal of the Danish navy.”
He said the recommendations from the government-convened Maritime Partnership – a group chaired by a Defence Ministry appointee and including representatives from organisations including IPD – showed there was a way forward for building the new ships in Denmark.
The partnership has just released its report, having been tasked in August 2022 with analysing whether warships could be designed, built, equipped and maintained in Denmark, to support the country’s defence needs, as well determining what was needed to bring this about.
“It will really be ground-breaking if Danish pension kroner can also be brought into play here to strengthen Denmark, and at the same time ensure a good return for Danish pension savers,” Damsgaard said.
IPD said previous government announcements had showed Denmark needed to invest up to DKK40bn (€5.4bn) in the next 20-25 years in new, modern ships in order to have an up-to-date and combat-capable navy fleet.
The new report pointed out, the association said, how the financing of the large projects could be provided via a so-called total supplier model, where the financing came from pension companies, for example.
“Large investments are needed to rebuild the Danish fleet, but Danish-built warships are definitely an option with pension kroner behind them,” Damsgaard said.
The 84-page report contains a case study of the patrol ship project, though which PensionDanmark is involved in the consortium Danske Patruljeskibe K/S, which is acting as a total supplier contracted to design, construct, equip, deliver and subsequently maintain new patrol ships for the Danish Armed Forces.
“Of course, that model can also be used when the entire fleet is to be expanded,” Damsgaard said.
The Maritime Partnership’s report showed that the turnkey supplier model significantly reduced the risk of procurement for the armed forces, and also ensured collaboration to find innovative solutions, the lobby group said.
IPD said the DKK4trn pension industry hoped the report – which has been passed to government ministers including defence minister Trols Lund Poulsen – would be well received by the Danish parliament (Folketing), and the Defence Agreement Circle (Forsvarsforligskredsen), a cross-parliamentary group.
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