The exact amount of the compensation has been agreed upon during the talks between Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin and French Defense Secretary-General Louis Gautier, the daily added. It covers the advance payment and additional costs Moscow incurred during crew training, creating infrastructure to station vessels in Vladivostok and developing four preproduction prototypes of the Ka-52K helicopters.
All issues, according to the Kommersant, could be settled in early August. Then Russian President Vladimir Putin and his French counterpart François Hollande will make an official announcement.
Earlier, on Thursday, Putin's aide Vladimir Kozhin said that Russia and France agreed the terms of the settlement of the $1.36-billion deal, including the schedule and the amount of compensation. On Friday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said he had nothing to add to this information.
Following the announcement, the French took to Twitter to vent their anger over the cancellation of the deal.
#Mistral Hollande fait perdre 1,16 milliard d'euros par son incompétence.
— Jérôme. ن (@pilatus70) 31 июля 2015
"Hollande has lost 1.16 billion euros due to his incompetence," one user said.
Et #Hollande va les trouver où ces 1,16 milliards? #Mistral https://t.co/mbNopkfC4x
— franck chouquet (@frchq) 31 июля 2015
"Where does Hollande plan to get the 1.16 billion euros?" asked Franck Chouquet.
1,2 milliard d'€, ce que va nous conter la non-vente du #Mistral… quasi 20€ pour chaque Français…
— Boss des Internets (@Ibarbinho) 31 июля 2015
"The decision to suspend the delivery of the Mistrals will cost us 1.2 billion euros. This is nearly 20 euros from every French national," another user pointed out.
#Mistral: l'accord de la honte. 1,2 milliard d'euros jetés par la fenêtre!
— Dupont-Aignan (@dupontaignan) 31 июля 2015
French politician and member of the National Assembly Nicolas Dupont-Aignan called the settlement "shameful," adding that 1.2 billion euros "have gone out the window."
Bon maintenant les autres pays qui ont fait pression pour qu'on ne vend pas le #Mistral ils vont acheter le bateau ou participer aux frais?
— Bifleur Fou!!! (@ludomada91) 31 июля 2015
"Are the countries that insisted on the Mistral non-delivery buy the ships or share the compensation costs?" asked another Twitter user.
In 2011, Russia and France inked a deal for the delivery of two Mistral-class helicopter carriers, dubbed Vladivostok and Sevastopol.
The Mistral deliveries were put on hold in late 2014 over Moscow's alleged involvement in the Ukrainian civil war. The Kremlin has repeatedly said Russia is not a party to the deadly conflict and pushed for peace in the war-torn nation.
