MOSCOW, November 26. /TASS/. Russia will not wait to file a lawsuit versus France in case of disrupted delivery of helicopter carriers Mistral, the first deputy chairman of Russia’s State Duma Industrial Committee and the chief of the League for Assistance to Military Enterprises Vladimir Gutenev said on Wednesday.
“Russia will act strictly in compliance with the signed accords and will not drag on making financial claims,” Gutenev said.
According to preliminary estimates, “France’s refusal to hand over helicopter carriers Mistral to Russia will cost around €3 billion to the country with initial cost of the contract of €1.2 billion.”
Meanwhile, the deputy is convinced that “non-fulfilment of the contract will not affect Russian naval capabilities, but France will face major financial and reputational losses in case of its thoughtless steps.”
French-Russian trade went down by 7.82% in the first half of this year alone as compared with the same period in the previous year, he recalled. Meanwhile, France’s export in Russia has shrunk by 13.9% for this period of time, the red ink of French-Russian trade has reached a record €2.17 billion.
The contract to build Mistral carriers for Russian Navy was signed in June 2011 with its cost reaching €1.12 billion. The first warship was set afloat in October 2013. The helicopter carrier should have been handed over to Russia on November 14, 2014, but Paris delayed it indefinitely. Second helicopter carrier Sevastopol was floated on November 20.