The Indian side will not demand compensation for a serious failure to meet the deadlines for the construction and delivery of the aircraft carrier Vikramaditya (former Admiral Gorshkov), modernized at the Severodvinsk enterprise Sevmash. About this at the exhibition of arms LIMA-2013 on Thursday said the deputy director of Rosoboronexport OJSC Viktor Komardin. According to him, if everything goes according to plan, the transfer of the ship to the customer will take place on November 15 2013.Answering the question of ITAR-TASS, whether India will impose fines for delays in deliveries, Komardin said: "The customer has a right to this, but I think that we will find a solution to this issue acceptable to each other." “In principle, we have already found them,” he noted.
Komardin did not disclose the reasons for Delhi’s benevolent attitude to the situation, but the media found out that, perhaps, the absence of complaints was affected by additional work to re-equip the cabin of the ship, undertaken by Russians on their own initiative. According to Nezavisimaya Gazeta, the St. Petersburg company Marine Complex Systems is currently performing deluxe finishing in the cabins of the aircraft carrier commander, compound commander and in the admiral cabin.
These VIP works were not covered by the contract. According to the sources of NG, the re-equipment became a kind of compensation for regular violations of the deadlines for the transfer of the ship, which was considered to be more profitable at costs than possible huge fines.
Commenting on the situation with an aircraft carrier on the eve, Viktor Komardin noted that he was surprised by the hype raised around this issue in the media. He recalled that an even more serious situation had arisen with the fulfillment by France of deliveries of India to non-nuclear submarines Scorpene. "There the deadlines were broken by 3-4 of the year, prices rose substantially. I was told that the boats are supplied separately from the control systems. There is a complete failure," said the deputy head of Rosoboronexport, noting that when the French pay fines, then it will be possible to demand the same.
Misadventures of "Admiral Gorshkov"
The contract for the modernization of the heavy aircraft carrier "Admiral Gorshkov" was concluded with India in 2004 year. The agreement provided for the allocation of 974 million dollars for the restoration and restructuring of the aircraft carrier, as well as 530 million dollars for the supply of 16 MiG-29K fighters and sea anti-submarine helicopters Ka-31 and Ka-27. The ship should have been handed over to the customer back in 2008, then it was a question of 4 December, 2012, reminds Interfax.
Due to the increase in the amount of work, the deadlines for the delivery of the aircraft carrier were extended. Significantly increased the cost of work. Currently, the price of this transaction, according to unofficial data, is about 2,3 billion dollars.
A serious emergency, which led to the next postponement of the ship, was the detection of problems in the aircraft carrier's boiler plant in October 2012 during tests in the White and Barents Seas. As a result, the program of factory running tests was curtailed. The Indian crew of the Vikramadithi returned to the base of Vishakhapatnam in late December.
In February 1 of the United Shipbuilding Corporation 2013 of the year reported that all work on the replacement of the thermal insulation of the aircraft carrier's boiler room, the problems in which did not allow running tests to be completed last year, was completed.
It is assumed that testing in the Barents Sea will be resumed in summer. In October, the aircraft carrier will again arrive at the plant and will be preparing for a long voyage to the Indian Ocean. The ship will be assigned to the new base of the Indian Navy Karwar on the west coast of Karnataka, where the nuclear submarine Chakra (formerly Nerpa) will also be leased from Russia.