France to pay Russia 949.7 mln euro in compensation for non-delivery of Mistral helicopter carriers.

France to pay Russia 949.7 mln euro in compensation for non-delivery of Mistral helicopter carriers.(RBTH).

The precise compensation paid to Russia for the non-delivery of two Mistral helicopter carriers by France stands at 949.754 million euro.

According to the Rossiya 24 channel, that sum was indicated in the agreement terminating the deal between Paris and Moscow which has been presented to the French National Assembly.

"France shall pay the Russian Federation 949,754,859 euro to compensate for the non-performance of obligations under the contract for the construction of landing ships dated January 25, 2011," says the document signed by Secretary General of the French Secretariat General for National Defense and Security Louis Gautier and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin.

The document terminating the deal, which was signed on August 5, 2015, underlined that France had no right to sell or re-export the ships to a third party in any way until Russia "was paid full compensation and regained the equipment" previously installed onboard the Mistral ships on the orders of Moscow. The French National Assembly Foreign Affairs Committee is due to hear the agreement on September 15, the day after the parliament starts an extraordinary session.

A contract between France and Russia for building two Mistral helicopter carriers for the Russian Navy was signed in summer 2011. The first ship, the Vladivostok, was launched almost two years ago and was expected to be delivered to Russia in 2014. The other ship, the Sevastopol, was due to be supplied to Russia in the second half of 2015. Yet Paris said last fall that it would delay the delivery of the helicopter carriers to Russia because of the Ukraine situation.

The largest French opposition party, the Republicans, demanded that a parliamentary commission be formed to look into the case before the government published details of the contract termination. The inquiry was initiated by the Republicans' defense issues representative Philippe Meunier and the party's national secretary for defense industries Philippe Vitel.

Russian Media: French shipyard STX received an order from the US as compensation for the "Mistral" cancellation.

Russian Media: French shipyard STX received an order from the US as compensation for the "Mistral" cancellation.(FLOT)[GoogleTranslate].

The American company Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd has ordered the shipyard STX France two cruise vessels with a total cost of 1.2 billion euros. 

The first vessel to be delivered to the customer in 2018, the second - in 2020.

The Russian media have already called this order "compensation" for the refusal to supply France "Mistral" Russian Navy.

According to Reuters Information on the conclusion of the contract with the shipbuilding facilities located in Saint-Nazaire, appeared on the background of the statements of the French leadership on the possible failure of the supply Russian helicopter type "Mistral", also built at this shipyard. "Currently, we do not do steps to supply" Mistral ". It is quite possible that, if the necessary conditions do not work out, we do not put these Russian ships" -results words of French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian Tass news agency.

Russian media have already called the order Royal Caribean two ships "compensation" for refusing to supply Russian "Mistral". "Obviously, the financial loss in case of non-delivery of helicopter in Russia would have been huge. By offering enterprise contract for the construction of cruise ships, Americans thus" compensate "the French gap arrangements" Mistral "-writes Moskovsky Komsomolets.

The contract for the supply of two helicopter was signed in 2011. Its cost was 1.2 billion euros. In case of failure of delivery "Rosoboronexport" is preparing to collect the money, as well as a large penalty.

In July 2014 a representative of the union CFDT Natalie Durand-Prenborn said that the company has experienced partial unemployment in 2009-2011, out of which came thanks to Russia's request.

"If not for these helicopter four years ago, it is unknown there would still STX France", -commented French activist edition of Liberation.

Recall that the Russian sailors, located in Saint-Nazaire, will wait for the decision to transfer the helicopter landing ship dock "Vladivostok" until February 2015. Own source of Central Navy Portal noted that many soldiers at this time expires French visas and they will be forced to renew them.

Related: Rogozin: Russia will no longer buy military equipment abroad

'France may 'never deliver' Mistral warships to Russia' French Defense minister.

'France may 'never deliver' Mistral warships to Russia' French Defense minister. (France24).

Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian indicated Friday that France may not deliver on its controversial contract with Russia for two Mistral helicopter carriers.

Le Drian blamed the ongoing crisis in eastern Ukraine for the impasse on French TV on Friday.

“We can’t imagine a delivery under the tense conditions we [currently] find ourselves in,” he told BFM TV. “We could never deliver; the Russians need to realise this.”

Last month, President François Hollande suspended the delivery of the first of the two ships “until further notice.” It was the second postponement. Read the full story here.

Mistral ships won’t be delivered to Russia Nov. 14. Who will pay the bill?

Mistral ships won’t be delivered to Russia Nov. 14 – Who will pay the bill? (RT).

France hasn’t yet fixed a date for delivery of the first of two Mistral helicopter carriers to Russia (scheduled for November 14), the French defense minister said. If France doesn’t deliver due to US and NATO pressure, it will have to pay a huge forfeit.

"No delivery date can be fixed at this stage," Jean-Yves Le Drian, the country’s defense minister told the National Assembly, the lower house of France’s Parliament.

"The president of the Republic has said that a definitive decision will come at the right moment, taking into account all the responsibilities that come with this decision, which is not a simple one," he added.

On Thursday, reports emerged that Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin will not attend the ceremony where France hands over the first Mistral ship to Russia at the Saint-Nazaire shipyards. On October 29, he said that Moscow had received an invitation to take delivery.

DCNS, a French industrial group specializing in naval defense and energy, sent the invitations to the ceremony of the ship delivery scheduled November 14, France’s Le Nouvel Observateur magazine wrote on Wednesday. However, the event was canceled.

The outlet managed to take a screenshot of the letter which was sent to a French official.

“When I opened my mail, I fell off my chair," the official told the magazine on condition of anonymity.

The chief of DCNS would not confirm whether this letter, signed by the export manager, was authentic. The official line is that these invitations were issued by mistake and the project manager was subsequently fired.

At the beginning of November, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg received a letter from eight US lawmakers, urging the Alliance to purchase the Mistral vessels.

“Sensitive to the financial burden that France may incur should it rightly refuse to transfer these warships to Russia, we renew our call that NATO purchase or lease the warships as a common naval asset,” the letter said.

However, a military source in Brussels told the TASS news agency that "NATO’s budget is too small to not only purchase Russia-ordered Mistral helicopter carriers, but to even compensate France half of the penalties in accordance with the contract.”

NATO’s military and civilian budget for 2014 is $ 1.6 billion, while the penalty for non-delivery of the two Mistral helicopter carriers to Russia could reach $ 3 billion, the source explained. Hmmmm.....Wasn't Turkey's dictator President Erdogan dreaming of an aircraft carrier? Would come in handy to harass anyone in the Mediterranean sea.

French Invitation for Russia to Attend Mistral helicopter carrier Handover on November 14 Still Valid

French Invitation for Russia to Attend Mistral Warship Handover on November 14 Still Valid. (RN).

A French invitation for a Russian official delegation to attend the delivery ceremony of the Vladivistok helicopter carrier in France on 14 November has not been voided, Russian Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov said Sunday, implying that the handover could still take place soon.

Answering a journalist's question on the situation around the Mistral-class warship, the minister said that "the invitation has not been withdrawn, and the man [responsible for the delivery] has been dismissed. What to make of it? It is up to you."

It was reported earlier that French arms industry company DCNS dismissed Yves Destefanis, a project director responsible for the handover of the Mistral helicopter carrier to Russia.

He was sacked after French Finance Minister Michel Sapin claimed that conditions for the handover of the first of two Mistral carriers to Russia had not been met.

Herve Guillou, the CEO of DCNS, made an official statement regarding the dismissal on October 31, saying Destefanis had allegedly "caused damaging consequences" to the company, according to the French newspaper Les Echos.

Russian Deputy Minister Dmitry Rogozin said earlier that Russian arms exporter Rosoboronexport had been invited to France to attend the official handover ceremony of the first Mistral carrier in mid-November.

Ooooops.....No adequate Fuel in Russia For French-Built Mistral-class amphibious assault vessels - Deputy PM Rogozin.

Ooooops.....No adequate Fuel in Russia For French-Built Mistral-class amphibious assault vessels - Deputy PM Rogozin.(RN).MOSCOW - Russia does not produce the type of fuel necessary for the French-made Mistral-class amphibious assault vessels it has ordered, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said Tuesday.
The Mistral class are powered by electric motors supplied by diesel-powered turbogenerators, according to naval-technology.com. Diesel fuel can suffer from a condition known as waxing or gelling in cold conditions, causing it to clog up fuel injection systems, naval systems engineers say. The condition can be corrected by use of certain chemical additives, or pre-heating the fuel, as is done in some cars.
“Probably, our chemists will prepare some special additives to solve this problem,” Rogozin, who oversees Russia’s military industry, told reporters on Tuesday. In January, Rogozin criticized the 1.2 billion euro deal to buy the ships, saying they would not be able to operate in cold weather, but did not then specify the reason.
The problem probably arose because Europe uses slightly different, cleaner diesel than Russian marine diesels, said an oil refinery engineer in London who spoke to RIA Novosti on condition of anonymity.
“The Russians could probably make the right grade fuel at a refinery of theirs somewhere, but then you have the problem of specially transporting and storing it,” he said. “You couldn’t just stick that fuel in the existing storage system and expect it to be clean.”
Using Russian-made fuel in the Mistrals might possibly cause minor damage over long periods, or invalidate the engines’ warranties, he said.
Specialists from both countries will discuss issues concerning the Mistral ships, including the fuel problem, during bilateral military talks to be held on February 14-15.
Rogozin said insufficient scientific advice had been taken in Russia prior to the latest decisions about purchases of arms and military equipment. “The devil is in the detail, so now we are looking into the problems that we might face when using those ships,” Rogozin said.
Rogozin repeated Russia would stick to its commitments under the deal, despite his critical comments about Mistral.
“I want to stress out again Russia will fulfil all its obligations mentioned in the signed contracts, so those worries which our French friends have should only be little ones – at least over the ships on the French wharves,” Rogozin said. Hmmmm......Nothing Vodka Can't cure?Read the full story here.