BEIJING, November 9 (RIA Novosti) — A French invitation for a Russian official delegation to attend the delivery ceremony of the Vladivistok helicopter carrier in France on 14 November has not been voided, Russian Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov said Sunday, implying that the handover could still take place soon.
Answering a journalist's question on the situation around the Mistral-class warship, the minister said that "the invitation has not been withdrawn, and the man [responsible for the delivery] has been dismissed. What to make of it? It is up to you."
It was reported earlier that French arms industry company DCNS dismissed Yves Destefanis, a project director responsible for the handover of the Mistral helicopter carrier to Russia.
He was sacked after French Finance Minister Michel Sapin claimed that conditions for the handover of the first of two Mistral carriers to Russia had not been met. Herve Guillou, the CEO of DCNS, made an official statement regarding the dismissal on October 31, saying Destefanis had allegedly "caused damaging consequences" to the company, according to the French newspaper Les Echos.
Russian Deputy Minister Dmitry Rogozin said earlier that Russian arms exporter Rosoboronexport had been invited to France to attend the official handover ceremony of the first Mistral carrier in mid-November.
Russia and France signed the €1.2 billion ($1.5 billion) deal for the two Mistral-class ships in June 2011. Since then, the deal has been in jeopardy after the West started implementing economic sanctions against Russia over the Ukrainian crisis.
