Peru's Defense Minister Rafael Belaunde and Army Commander General Oswaldo Calle Talledo took part in a ceremony on Saturday, September 12, at the Army Aeronautical Maintenance Center (CEMAE) in Arequipa to present three Russian-made Mi helicopters repaired by the Panamanian company Milenium Veladi Corp. But the helicopters have not actually been handed over, because CEMAE's own officers and technicians have refused to validate the contractor's work after identifying serious deficiencies, according to signed reports reviewed by La República.
Belaunde highlighted the aircraft's availability, saying they would add to the fleet needed to respond to emergencies caused by the El Niño phenomenon, the recurring weather pattern that brings heavy rains and flooding to parts of Peru.
The officers and technicians at CEMAE, where the Mi helicopters were exhibited and flown in Cocachacra, Arequipa, have refused to sign off on the contractor's work. As a result, CEMAE has still not delivered the aircraft to the using unit, Army Aviation, which means they cannot enter service.
According to the official account of the minister's visit, Belaunde supervised the operational capacity of Army helicopters that could be deployed to respond to emergencies linked to El Niño. A demonstration flight of the Mi aircraft was carried out during his visit.
A $20.3 million contract
The overhaul, a full repair of the aircraft, was awarded to Milenium Veladi Corp for $20.3 million on November 10, 2023. The company represents the Russian state-owned National Aeronautical Services Company (NASC) and has taken more than two years to complete the work, despite several contract extensions.
Calle Talledo intends to award the same contractor a new contract to repair and extend the service life of 15 more Mi helicopters. The general is under investigation by the Arequipa Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office for awarding the first contract to Milenium Veladi Corp without a competitive bidding process. If the company fails to secure validation of the current overhaul, it would be excluded from the next award.
Deficiencies found in the overhaul
After numerous delays, the company reported delivering the three aircraft on August 26. CEMAE's Reception and Conformity Commission for Goods and Services was then required to evaluate the overhaul and issue a report by September 10 confirming whether the contract had been fulfilled. As of publication, the commission had not produced any document validating Milenium Veladi Corp's work.
Instead, on September 2, before the deadline expired, the commission notified the head of CEMAE, Colonel Elvis Velásquez Grández, of several deficiencies in the overhaul. The provider had not even supplied updated documentation on the helicopters' components to establish their origin.
The commission's report noted that most of the components' calendar life was expiring, meaning a formal resolution on extending the aircraft's useful life was needed under current regulations, rather than the photocopies or scanned documents the contractor tried to use to resolve the observations. The company also submitted documents that were not originals, which the commission said left them without legal validity because they failed to meet requirements.
When technicians from CEMAE's Quality Control Department tried to verify corrective work on one of the helicopters, the Milenium Veladi Corp representative, Felipe Naters Galarreta, did not allow committee members to carry out their duties, the reports state.
That is why CEMAE technicians have withheld their approval of the three Mi helicopters even after the September 10 deadline passed, prompting the staged event on September 12.
Incomplete contractual obligations
Beyond repairing the helicopters, Milenium Veladi Corp was also contractually required to install a Chemical Laboratory, an electroplating workshop, a Non-Destructive Testing Laboratory, a Metrology Laboratory and a Digital RT System. It failed to meet these obligations, according to technical reports.
In reports dated July 24, 29 and 30, and August 10 of this year, Lieutenant Enrique Pachas Ninamango, president of the committee overseeing those workshops and laboratories, informed Colonel Velásquez Grández of noncompliance with several contractual requirements.
Of 48 items verified in the Chemical Laboratory, 44 had at least one observation, with deficiencies concentrated in missing or insufficient calibration certificates, conformity certificates, technical sheets, manuals and warranties, the documentation meant to certify the equipment's characteristics, quality, safety and fitness for use.
The committee also withheld conformity for the Digital RT System, used to inspect welds, because its overall operability, interoperability, security and image quality had not been accredited, nor had the contractor fulfilled its obligations on commissioning, training and delivery of documentation. Of 30 items in the Non-Destructive Testing Workshop, all had at least one observation, with the same pattern of missing certificates and manuals.
The committee said a new evaluation of the service and the documentation submitted by Milenium Veladi Corp was needed to determine whether the observations had been resolved. Without that information, technicians said it was difficult to establish whether the contractor had fully met the service requirements, for which the state has already paid more than 70% of the contract value.
Rather than requiring Milenium Veladi Corp to fix the observations, Colonel Velásquez Grández removed Lieutenant Pachas Ninamango from his post on August 18, the officer who had refused to approve the contract's conformity.
Thirteen days after Pachas Ninamango's removal, Belaunde and Calle Talledo celebrated the delivery of the three Russian Mi helicopters overhauled by Milenium Veladi Corp.
