After 8 months of negotiations, an agreement between Paris and Moscow is reached, resolving the political and commercial litigation on the file of the two “Mistrals”. Indeed after Russia ordered 2 French amphibious assault ship for a contract of € 1.2 billion, including training, the French government decided to cancel the deal because of the Ukrainian crisis, while Moscow began to pay. Hence, Moscow protested reclaiming the complete refund.
According to the French president, François Hollande who was the guest of honour of the Egyptian president Sissi for the inauguration of the Suez Canal, the deal between Paris and Moscow about the repayment of the “Mistrals” is a “good deal”. He added, after the military parade, the agreement included what Russia exactly paid in this business without penalty.
In France, this case provoked many political reactions, mainly from the opposition, which considered the country’s honour was at stake for the simple reason that the contract was signed before the Ukrainian crisis, and that the behaviour of the government was irresponsible. Indeed, in addition of its commercial reputation, day after day France paid for the vessels’ maintenance. Moreover if France wants to resell the “Mistrals” to another country, the software of the machines should be changed for the simple reason that they were programmed in Russia. This change would be estimated by several million euros that could have an impact, logically, on the final price.
But according to François Hollande, France won’t find any difficulty to resell the “Mistrals”. Indeed Jean-Yves Le Drain, the French minister of foreign affairs, announced to the French media that several countries showed their interest in buying the “Mistrals”. For this kind of vessels, which require experience and the ability to pay € 600 million per unit, India, Brazil and Canada seem to be the best candidates.
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