MOSCOW (AP) — Russia will announce an open tender for a warship it had previously planned to buy from France without allowing other bidders, an official said Thursday.
Igor Ryabov, a spokesman for Russia’s state-controlled United Shipbuilding Corporation, said it had received an invitation from the government to take part. He said the tender would be formally announced in September and would likely involve other foreign shipbuilders in addition to the French.
The announcement marks a change from Russia’s earlier intention to buy a Mistral-class assault ship from France without bidding.
The business daily Kommersant said the Defense Ministry remains committed to buying the French carrier and the tender — which could be a formality, with France the predetermined winner — would lay the groundwork for building more such ships under license on Russian shipyards.
Ryabov told The Associated Press that his company would hold meetings with Mistral builders in late August to offer setting up a joint venture. The Russian corporation could invite the French to help build the ship at one of the two shipyards in northwestern Russia, he said.
Ryabov said the company could build a Mistral-class ship in 30 months. "It doesn’t pose any difficulty to us," he said in a telephone interview.
The Defense Ministry refused comment.
Russian officials had said previously that the country wants to buy one Mistral-class ship and jointly build three others.
The Mistral, which could carry up to 16 helicopters and dozens of armored vehicles, would allow Russia to land hundreds of troops quickly on foreign soil.
The possible deal has alarmed Georgia, which fought a brief war against Russia in 2008, as well as the ex-Soviet Baltic nations in NATO.
