Source in USC: disruption of the Mistral contract involves serious penalties
The breakdown of the contract for the construction in France of two amphibious helicopter-carrying Mistral-type docks, more than half of which Russia has already paid, provides for serious penalties. This was reported to ITAR-TASS by a source in the United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC), commenting on the statement by the French Foreign Ministry about the possibility of the French party canceling the deal on these ships. "If you take the purely financial side of the issue, it is worth noting that the contract from 2011 of the year provides for very serious penalties in case of failure of your obligations by the party to the contract," the agency’s source said. "The contract for the construction of two" Mistral "Russia has already paid more than half the sum of France", - said the source. According to him, this is approximately € 700 million.
"Taking into account the fact that the cost of labor and industrial production as such in Europe is significantly higher than in Russia, we have the catalog cost of building one Mistral is € 250 million, while the contract with France is worth € 1,12 billion by two ships, "the source added. According to him, for this amount "here, in Russian shipyards, you can build not two, but four or five amphibious assault carriers with similar characteristics."
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, speaking on Monday on live television channel TF1, said that Paris may consider the option of canceling the sale of Russia to Mistral in the event of a further escalation of the situation in Ukraine. "The ability to cancel a deal to sell ships" Mistral "is included in the list of measures in the third series of sanctions against Russia," said the minister, adding that France is not ready to make such a decision on its own. She, Fabius explained, “does not intend to act alone in this case, other countries are also needed: France, in particular, will ask the UK to carry out similar (in scale) actions with the holdings of Russian oligarchs in London.”
In early March in Brussels, French President Francois Hollande said that the agreement to sell Russia two Mistral-type ships "at this stage" was not suspended. "France is in compliance with the provisions of the signed contracts. We are not yet at the stage when we need to cancel them - and we would like to avoid it," he said.
The contract for the construction of the "Mistral"
The contract worth € 1,12 billion for the construction of Mistral-type helicopter carriers for the Russian Navy was signed in June 2011 in St. Petersburg. It provides for the construction of the first two ships at the STX shipyard in the French Saint-Nazaire. The first ship "Vladivostok" was launched and according to the plan will be handed over to the Russian Navy at the end of 2014, the second ship "Sevastopol" - in 2015. The issue of the construction of the third and fourth Mistral in the Russian Federation should be resolved based on the results of the operation of Vladivostok and Sevastopol.
At the Baltic Shipyard in St. Petersburg, the assembly of the stern for the second Mistral-type helicopter carrier continues, in the French Saint-Nazaire the bow of the ship is being collected in parallel. Stern from Petersburg to France is planned to be shipped by sea in July.
Technical specifications
Mistral-type helicopter carriers have a displacement of 21 thousand tons, a maximum hull length of 210 m, a speed of up to 18 knots, and a cruising range of up to 20 thousand miles. The size of the helicopter carrier team is 170 people, in addition, the ship can take on board 450 people. The air group includes 16 helicopters, six of which can simultaneously be placed on the take-off deck. The cargo deck of the ship can accommodate more than 40 tanks or 70 cars.
Mistrals can perform four tasks at once: take helicopters, land the military on land, be the center of command and a floating hospital.
Information