The Vladivostok warship, a Mistral class LHD amphibious vessel ordered by Russia, sits in a shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, western France, May 9, 2014 (AFP Photo/Jean-Sebastien Evrard)
Ismailiya (Egypt) (AFP) - French President Francois Hollande said Thursday there would be "no difficulty" in finding new buyers for two Mistral warships that had been sold to Russia before Paris scrapped the deal.
Paris refused to deliver the warships to Moscow in response to Russia's alleged aggression in Ukraine last year.
"There will be no difficulty in finding buyers," Hollande told reporters in the Egyptian canal city of Ismailiya, where he attended a ceremony to inaugurate an expanded Suez Canal.
Two of the 200-metre (650-foot) amphibious helicopter-carriers were due for delivery to Russia by the end of this year in a deal worth an estimated 1.2 billion euros ($1.3 billion).
The Sevastopol mistral warship, pictured here on March 16, 2015, is one of two mammoth warships that France hopes to resell after a cancelled delivery to Russia (AFP Photo/Georges Gobet)
AFP: 'Extremely difficult' for France to sell Mistral warships: experts
Paris (AFP) - After cancelling the sale to Russia, France finds itself lumbered with two giant Mistral warships which it will find "extremely difficult" to re-sell and cannot afford to keep, say experts.
The pair of 200-metre (650-foot) amphibious helicopter-carriers were due for delivery to Russia by the end of this year in a deal worth an estimated 1.2 billion euros ($1.3 billion).
Instead, they are docked in the western French port at St Nazaire after Paris put the deal on ice in response to Russia's aggression in Ukraine last year.
The deal was formally cancelled on Wednesday, and within hours French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said "several" countries had expressed an interest in buying the ships, without giving details.
WNU Editor: What's my take .... France will sell the ships but at a huge discount.
2 comments:
WNU Editor,
These two Mistrals were heavily "customized" for Russian systems, weapons and technology, that was to be installed once delivered.
Buyers are already few and far between, and dock rot has already started.
I concur Jay. No one is going to buy these ships .... unless they are discounted big time (i.e. given away).
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