And the order goes to Consortium!
The Mistral warship construction issue ultimately resulted in a profitable transaction for the Russian shipbuilding industry - the French National Shipbuilding Corporation DCNS and Russia's United Shipbuilding Corporation formed the consortium, which involves an exchange of technologies. The consortium will focus on the construction of technically sophisticated warships and civilian vessels.
The agreement on establishment of the Consortium was signed at the Admiralty Shipyards (a USC’s shipbuilding company) in St. Petersburg. As Roman Trotsenko, the USC’s President & CEO commented on the new Consortium, the agreement has been concluded for a long-term cooperation, providing for exchange of technologies. "We hope that this cooperation will enrich both sides through the exchange of experience and training of people and technology exchange," Mr. Trotsenko said.
That is what the Russian shipbuilding industry was pursuing in return for placing orders for ships such as Mistral, that is technological cooperation and appropriate training of personnel.
At the same time, representatives of the two corporations after the signing ceremony in an interview with journalists were quite cagey about whether the consortium is going to participate in bidding for Mistral contract, noting only that it will participate in any commercially viable projects. Nevertheless, it is clear that the alliance of these two shipbuilding giants is directly related to this issue. Initially, the Russian Defense Ministry planned the acquisition of the helicopter carrier from France. However, the USC opposed, claiming that Russian shipyards are able to participate and implement the project. During Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s visit to France, he told reporters that the possibility of buying of Mistral warships can be considered only with transfer of shipbuilding technologies to Russia.
Finally, the Defense Ministry was forced to announce a tender for the helicopter carrier contract. At the same time the Ministry’s officials have repeatedly expressed their sympathy to French shipbuilders. Thus, we can assume that the Consortium was formed to participate in the tender and most likely to win. So, both sides made a trade-off to meet the interests of USC, the Russian Defense Ministry and France. France needs ship orders, USC seek state-of-the-art technology and access to international markets, the Ministry wants high-quality warships, built on time and at a reasonable price. Noteworthy, the price of one ship of Mistral class is now valued at $500 million, versus $ 800 million previously announced
Meanwhile, the USC has more long-term plans. As Roman Trotsenko has told earlier in an interview with the PortNews correspondent, the Consortium is expected to build civil vessels as well, primarily the Arctic vessels, supply ships, icebreakers and, generally speaking, sophisticated, high-tech vessels with small displacement. Thus, the French side gets a guarantee of newbuilding orders in the Consortium from Russia interested in building the fleet for operation on the Arctic and the Northern Sea Route, while USC gets the experience and technology with the international market entry.
According to DCNS’s head Patrick Boisseau, the Consortium will be able to implement projects for any type of vessels and ships that are in demand on the market. The French and Russian corporations’ Consortium will jointly participate in tenders, while the share of each side will vary depending on the specific parameters of the order.
It must be noted that cooperation with the leading shipbuilding countries became the general strategy of the USC, striving to increase the competitiveness of the domestic shipbuilding industry and enter the world market. The Corporation announced a modern shipyard project in the Russian Far East to be implemented in cooperation with South Korean partners, the leaders of large-ship building. Currently, Russia has also been in talks with Finland on cooperation in shipbuilding.
Vitaly Chernov
The agreement on establishment of the Consortium was signed at the Admiralty Shipyards (a USC’s shipbuilding company) in St. Petersburg. As Roman Trotsenko, the USC’s President & CEO commented on the new Consortium, the agreement has been concluded for a long-term cooperation, providing for exchange of technologies. "We hope that this cooperation will enrich both sides through the exchange of experience and training of people and technology exchange," Mr. Trotsenko said.
That is what the Russian shipbuilding industry was pursuing in return for placing orders for ships such as Mistral, that is technological cooperation and appropriate training of personnel.
At the same time, representatives of the two corporations after the signing ceremony in an interview with journalists were quite cagey about whether the consortium is going to participate in bidding for Mistral contract, noting only that it will participate in any commercially viable projects. Nevertheless, it is clear that the alliance of these two shipbuilding giants is directly related to this issue. Initially, the Russian Defense Ministry planned the acquisition of the helicopter carrier from France. However, the USC opposed, claiming that Russian shipyards are able to participate and implement the project. During Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s visit to France, he told reporters that the possibility of buying of Mistral warships can be considered only with transfer of shipbuilding technologies to Russia.
Finally, the Defense Ministry was forced to announce a tender for the helicopter carrier contract. At the same time the Ministry’s officials have repeatedly expressed their sympathy to French shipbuilders. Thus, we can assume that the Consortium was formed to participate in the tender and most likely to win. So, both sides made a trade-off to meet the interests of USC, the Russian Defense Ministry and France. France needs ship orders, USC seek state-of-the-art technology and access to international markets, the Ministry wants high-quality warships, built on time and at a reasonable price. Noteworthy, the price of one ship of Mistral class is now valued at $500 million, versus $ 800 million previously announced
Meanwhile, the USC has more long-term plans. As Roman Trotsenko has told earlier in an interview with the PortNews correspondent, the Consortium is expected to build civil vessels as well, primarily the Arctic vessels, supply ships, icebreakers and, generally speaking, sophisticated, high-tech vessels with small displacement. Thus, the French side gets a guarantee of newbuilding orders in the Consortium from Russia interested in building the fleet for operation on the Arctic and the Northern Sea Route, while USC gets the experience and technology with the international market entry.
According to DCNS’s head Patrick Boisseau, the Consortium will be able to implement projects for any type of vessels and ships that are in demand on the market. The French and Russian corporations’ Consortium will jointly participate in tenders, while the share of each side will vary depending on the specific parameters of the order.
It must be noted that cooperation with the leading shipbuilding countries became the general strategy of the USC, striving to increase the competitiveness of the domestic shipbuilding industry and enter the world market. The Corporation announced a modern shipyard project in the Russian Far East to be implemented in cooperation with South Korean partners, the leaders of large-ship building. Currently, Russia has also been in talks with Finland on cooperation in shipbuilding.
Vitaly Chernov