Canada, India, Singapore and Egypt are showing interest in buying France’s two Mistral warships. Paris scrapped the deal to sell the vessels to Russia due to  the Ukraine crisis. A deal for two ships for the Russian Navy was announced by  French President Nicolas Sarkozy on 24 December 2010, and signed by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin and French Defence Minister Alain Juppé in the presence of Sarkozy on 25 January 2011. On 3 September 2014, French President  announced the postponement of delivery of the first warship,Vladivostok, due to the Ukraine-Russia crisis.

The cost of abandoning the agreement with Russia will lead to the loss of  1.1 billion euros ($1.2 billion) if the government did not find another buyer. The amount includes the costs of the maintenance required to keep the pair of amphibious helicopter-carriers in operational condition and fees for keeping them docked in the western port of St Nazaire.

The French National Assembly will present a bill enshrining the agreement between Paris and Moscow to abandon the deal. The bill allows France to find another foreign buyer for the vessels, as long as it lets Russia know in writing beforehand. France commits to not sell the Mistrals to a country that goes against Russia’s interests.

French Mistral Warship: 

• The Mistral class is a class of three amphibious assault ships.
• Three ships of the class are in service in the French Navy: Mistral, Tonnerre, and Dixmude.
• a Mistral-class ship is capable of transporting and deploying 16 NH90 or Tiger helicopters, four landing barges, up to 70 vehicles including 13 AMX Leclerc tanks, or a 40-strong Leclerc tank battalion and 450 soldiers.

About Ukraine crisis.:

• crisis in Ukraine began on 21 November 2013.
• president Viktor Yanukovych suspended preparations for the implementation of an association agreement with the European Union which later resulted into mass protests by its opponents, known as the “Euromaidan”..
•  An ensuing political crisis in Ukrainian autonomous region of Crimearesulted in the annexation of Crimea by Russia.
• ‘Euromaidan’ demanded closer ties with the European Union, and the ousting of Yanukovych.This movement was ultimately successful, culminating in the February 2014 revolution, which removed Yanukovych and his government.

Effect of Crisis:

The crisis has had many effects, both domestic and international.

• the economy of Ukraine contracted by 8%.
• Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Station was forced to shut down one of its reactors after an accident.
• Coal Shortage.
• a new pipeline in Turkey was proposed with an annual capacity around 63 billion cubic metres (bcm), so as to carry natural gas to Europewhile completely bypassing Ukraine as a traditional transit hub for Russian gas.

G.K. Related Questions:

Who is the President of France?

– François Hollande

Which is the Capital of Ukraine?

– Kiev