REUTERS
Egypt has sold two French-built Mistral battleships to Russia – which originally commissioned the ships – for $1, said Polish Defence Minister Antoni Macierewicz, Radio Poland reports.
"It is true that the Mistrals were sold to Egypt, and it is true that in recent days they have de facto been transferred to Russia for one dollar. This operation did indeed take place," Macierewicz said in Polish parliament on Thursday, Radio Poland reports.
Russia ordered two Mistral battleships from France in 2010 for EUR 1.37 bln. In late 2014, French President Francois Hollande announced that France would not be delivering the ships due to Moscow's "recent actions in Ukraine". The helicopter-carriers were eventually sold to Egypt for around EUR 950 mln.
At the same time, in a comment to RBC, representative of Russia's defense ministry Igor Konashenkov dismissed the claim, labeling it a "Friday nonsense" and accusing Poland's defense minister of making such statements for personal PR.