Missiles For Milk: How Russia Offered NZ Military Hardware To Settle Dairy Bill -- The Guardian
Former PM Jim Bolger 'absolutely stunned' to be offered a nuclear sub and two MiGs in lieu of money, new book reveals
How do you settle a rather sizeable bill for your milk delivery? If you are a cash-strapped superpower the answer is, apparently, to offer up a pair of fighter jets and a nuclear submarine as payment.
The extraordinary offer was made by Russia to New Zealand in 1993, a new book reveals.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia was struggling to pay the $100m it owed New Zealand for a range of imported dairy products.
In a meeting with Russian officials to thrash out payment terms, Jim Bolger, then New Zealand prime minister, was "absolutely stunned" to be offered the military hardware in lieu of money, according to author Clive Lind.
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My Comment: I was in Russia at the time .... it was pure chaos. Everyone was looking for money .... and no one had any.
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