The decision to suspend delivery of a Mistral naval
assault ship to Russia risks costing France at least 1bn euros (£800m),
officials say.
French President Francois Hollande said Russia's
actions in eastern Ukraine meant conditions were not right for delivery of the
helicopter-carrier.
He later said "a ceasefire and a political
settlement" should be in place before the deal could go ahead.
Russia was expecting two Mistral ships - the first
one in October.
A French diplomat earlier said the contract was
suspended until November, and the delay "could cost us 1bn euros".
The deal is worth 1.2bn euros - and Russia is
reported to have paid most of it, so breach of contract would mean France
having to reimburse that money.
In addition, France would be liable for an extra 251m-euro
penalty payment, French news website LCI reports.
The first ship is called the Vladivostok.
About 400 Russian sailors are training at the
shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, western France, to be ready for the eventual
handover of the Vladivostok.
France had until now resisted pressure to halt the
delivery, saying it had to respect an existing contract.
US President Barack Obama and UK Prime Minister
David Cameron both criticized the deal, at a time when Russia has been widely
condemned for arming pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine and allowing
volunteers across the border to help them. Russia denies Western allegations of
direct interference in the conflict.
A Russian military expert quoted by the Russian
Kommersant news website said the final bill for France could go as high as 3bn
euros.
The second ship, the Sevastopol, was to have been
sent next year. Mr Hollande made no mention of it in his statement on Wednesday
but said in July that delivery would depend on "Russia's attitude".
A union representative at STX, the French
construction firm building the Mistral ships, said STX workers expressed
"amazement and outrage" after the contract was suspended.
Jean-Marc Perez, quoted by AFP news agency, said
that if the contract were cancelled it could threaten hundreds of French jobs.
Russia's Deputy Defense Minister Yury Borisov said
the French decision would not hold back Moscow's plans to reform its armed
forces.
"Although of course it is unpleasant and adds
to certain tensions in relations with our French partners, the cancelling of
this contract will not be a tragedy for our modernization," he said,
quoted by Itar-Tass news agency.
No comments:
Post a Comment