REUTERS
France paid EUR 950 million to Russia as a result of termination of the Mistral contract, TASS news agency reports citing the French newspaper L’Opinion.
"After the decision to terminate the contract [on the supply of] Mistrals, France has already paid Russia EUR 950 million. These payments were made under the "urgent scheme," without the approval of the relevant governing authorities. The Council of Ministers will consider this issue at a meeting on August 26. Then this issue of payments will be forwarded to the parliament," reads the article by a prominent French military analyst Jean-Dominique Merchet in L'Opinion, TASS reports.
Merchet wrote that, according to the available information, "the total amount of payments to Russia" will be much less than the 2 billion (euros), which was previously reported by Le Canard Enchaîné newspaper
Read alsoCanada, Singapore or Egypt may buy Mistrals after deal with Russia nixedThe initial EUR 893 million "was repaid by Coface, a French foreign trade insurance company," says Merche. The remaining costs – covering the crew training and refurbishment of one of Russia’s ports - will be paid by the “French state treasury." The size of this compensation should amount to EUR 50-60 million, according to Merchet.
As UNIAN reported earlier, the original price of two helicopter carriers ordered by Moscow was EUR 1.2 billion.