Russian Defense Ministry lukewarm on South Korean warship deal

RIA Novosti ^ | 7/15/2010 | RIA Novosti

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

The Russian Defense Ministry has effectively dismissed the idea of buying a South Korean warship in place of a French Mistral-class amphibious assault ship, a Russian business daily reported on Thursday.

According to Kommersant, the United Shipbuilding Corporation proposed the purchase of a $650 million Dokdo helicopter carrier from South Korea.

In a letter to Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov, USC CEO Roman Trotsenko said his corporation could buy a license to build a Dokdo-class ship at a Russian shipyard within three years.

The Defense Ministry is skeptical about the ability of Russian shipyards to build such ships in principle or their ability to build them on time, Kommersant wrote.

"The USC's proposal merits attention, but then you can declare just about anything," a ministry spokesman told the paper.

Commenting on the Kommersant report for RIA Novosti, an USC executive who insisted on anonymity confirmed that Trotsenko had indeed sent a letter to Serdyukov.

"I confirm that such letters were sent to Navy chief Vladimir Vysotsky and Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov a long time ago, but we have not as of yet received a reply," the executive said.