Russia and France Signed Contract on Purchase of 4 Mistral Helicopter Carriers

Russia and France signed a contract on purchase of four Mistral helicopter carriers, reports Kommersant. According to the publication, first two helicopter carriers will be built in France and Russia will pay 1.2 billion EUROs.

An agreement was signed between Rosoboronexport and French corporation DCNS in Paris on June 10th. According to the terms of the contract, the helicopter carriers will be equipped with marine exploitation system of tactical information (SENIT-9). The contract does not envisage transferring technologies to Russia.

French publication La Tribune states that first two helicopter carriers will be built in the West of France, in the port of Sen Nazer and the rest – in Russia.

On June 21st the Prime-Minister Vladimir Putin will visit Paris to ultimately sign the contract.

The negotiations on the purchase of Mistral helicopter carriers lasted for almost two years. Information about the contract was first disseminated in 2009. Since March 2nd of 2010 the official negotiations started. However, the negotiations got postponed numerous times due to disagreement between the parties. One of the disputed issues was the contract cost.

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