"No tender has been announced, nor are we going to announce it. The equipment costs too much. Now we are just making inspection of it", said Altynbaev.
Kazakhstan has a special programme "for prolonging the service life of the present air defence systems until 2010", he said.
In turn, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov stressed that "the Russian side is ready to give the maximum of help and assistance in this matter".
According to media reports, Kazakhstan has actually announced an international tender for the right to modernise its air defence. Russia was invited to participate in the last moment. However, following a recent visit by President Putin to Kazakhstan and his talks with President Nazarbaev, the situation has backtracked. To all appearances, it has been recalled to Kazakhstan that, like Russia, it is a member of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation, which does not intend the participation of third states in the CSTO defence affairs.
