The composition of the Naval forces of Ukraine was replenished with two used American patrol boats of the Island type, called Starobelsk and Slavyansk. This was reported on the website of the Ministry of Defense of the country. As expected in the military department, the appearance of these courts "will significantly increase the existing capabilities of the Ukrainian Navy."
The transfer of two decommissioned boats of the Island type to Ukraine became known back in September 2018. Kiev received ships for free, but paid $ 10 million for transportation and crew training at the US naval base in Baltimore.
In March, General Curtis Scaparotti, Commander of the Joint Armed Forces of NATO in Europe, at a hearing in the House of Representatives of the US Congress, spoke in favor of transferring two more decommissioned American boats to Kiev.
“Will not affect the military potential of Ukraine”
In addition to the boats withdrawn after prolonged use from the US Coast Guard, in the coming years, the Ukrainian fleet hopes to receive 20 new patrol boats OCEA FPB 98 made in France. On November 15, Minister of Internal Affairs Arsen Avakov announced that the Ukrainian government had approved a project to purchase ships for the needs of the State Border Service of the country, accountable to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. As specified on the website of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the construction of OCEA FPB 98 will be joint - 25% of the work is planned to be organized in Ukraine.
For these purposes, € 136.5 million will be provided. 15% of this amount, Kiev plans to allocate from the budget, and 85% to issue in the form of a loan. In addition to supplying ships, the deal will include after-sales service, transportation and training of 240 crew members, according to the website of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine.
From the official statements of Kiev it follows that an agreement on the conclusion of a contract has already been reached. However, to date, the French authorities have refrained from commenting on the situation with the export of OCEA FPB 98 to Ukraine.
Economist and political scientist Alexander Dudchak believes that the contract with France will result in additional financial difficulties for Ukraine. In an interview with RT, he noted that the Ukrainian government is committing "another crime against taxpayers."
“The amount of € 136.5 million is adequate by the standards of the global arms market, but for Kiev this is a very big expense, especially since almost all the funds for the purchase of ships are foreign loans. A deal with the French, if it is concluded, will only exacerbate the debt problem of Ukraine. Do not forget that almost half of the state treasury’s revenues will be spent on payment of international obligations in 2020, and military spending will occupy the second line, ”Dudchak recalled.
At the same time, according to the commercial director of Arsenal of the Fatherland magazine Alexei Leonkov, foreign ships in which Ukraine is interested will not be able to enhance the combat effectiveness of its Navy and the State Border Service. In an interview with RT, the expert noted that American Island type boats and French OCEA FPB 98s would not help Kiev in the “fight against the Russian presence in the Black Sea”.
“The patrol ships, which are so rejoiced in Kiev, have very weak weapons. Their appearance in the Navy will not affect the military potential of Ukraine. These boats can inspect the water area, catch violators of the state border or fishermen, arrange small provocations, but they are absolutely not able to withstand the Russian Black Sea Fleet (namely, this is the key task for Kiev), ”Leonkov emphasized.
- OCEA FPB 98 Patrol Boat Production Project
Experts believe that the transfer and purchase of foreign ships objectively harm the shipbuilding industry of Ukraine. In recent years, the country produced artillery boats of project 58155 Gyurza-M and landing assault boats of project 58181 Centaur. The plans of the Ministry of Defense - the construction of missile-artillery boats of the "Doe" type.
“The Ukrainian shipbuilding industry, to put it mildly, is not in the best shape. Ukrainian boats are noticeably inferior in quality to their foreign counterparts. Nevertheless, local shipbuilders are still able to produce more or less tolerable vessels that could perform patrol functions. The money would remain inside Ukraine, and the load on the state budget would not be so big, ”says Dudchak.
However, Leonkov recalled that the production of warships in Ukraine actually expropriated the Kuznitsa on Rybalsky enterprise (Kiev), which until November 2018 belonged to Petro Poroshenko. Now the beneficiary of the plant is the oligarch Sergey Tigipko - former deputy prime minister of Ukraine.
The analyst believes that Zelensky’s team is trying to distance itself from the corruption schemes in the defense industry that existed under Poroshenko. In addition, Leonkov does not exclude that the contracts of the Forge on Rybalsky with the Ministry of Defense will become the focus of attention of law enforcement agencies of Ukraine.
“Ukrainian shipbuilding is in a ruined state. Ideally, Kiev, of course, needs to restore at least some order. But the current authorities do not want to place orders at the former Poroshenko enterprise, ”says Leonkov.
"Another step towards impoverishment"
If the purchase of 20 OCEA FPB 98 boats takes place, it will become the second major export transaction in Kiev and Paris. In 2018, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine agreed with Airbus Helicopters, and the governments of the two countries signed an agreement to supply Ukraine 55 helicopters Н225, Н145 and Н125 for the National Guard, State Border Guard Service, National Police and State Emergency Service worth over € 550 million.
“Under the terms of the agreement, the French side in two stages will deliver to Ukraine, first 37 Airbus helicopters, and then another 18 helicopters. Of these, 21 helicopters are H225 models with a carrying capacity of more than 10 tons. Such equipment is not produced in Ukraine, but we really need it, ”Avakov said about the terms of the contract in May last year.
However, almost all the money for the acquisition of rotorcraft was allocated by the French Ministry of Finance and a consortium of local banks. Therefore, this deal caused a negative reaction among Ukrainian industrialists and in the expert community.
For example, the president of Motor Sich (Zaporozhye) Vyacheslav Boguslaev does not agree that the Ukrainian industry is not capable of producing analogues of Airbus Helicopters. According to the top manager, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine has taken "another step towards the impoverishment of the budget."
“Already the deputies intervened, and the people are indignant. But there are interested people who do not need aviation Ukraine. They act on the basis of their personal interests, ”Boguslaeva quotes RBC.
Ukrainian financier Pavel Vernivsky claims that Airbus Helicopters is going to deliver helicopters to Ukraine that the Poles could not previously sell. Last June, on his Facebook page, he wrote that Warsaw had refused a contract with the French because of fears of bankruptcy of the local aircraft manufacturer PZL Swidnik.
- Helicopter "Hope" PJSC "Motor Sich"
- © motorsich.ru
“Fortunately, Ukrainians turned up by the arm, who could sell unsold products. And given that this is not our direct order, it would be quite possible to wait a couple of years and direct this money to support our own manufacturer. But it’s clear that ours (authorities. - RT ) have different priorities, ”said Vernivsky.
The expert noted that the Poles made a choice in favor of their own Sokol helicopter, which is a modernized version of the Soviet Mi-2. In a similar way, in his opinion, Ukraine could behave. In addition, in April last year, Motor Sich introduced the Nadezhda rotorcraft, also designed on the basis of the Mi-2.
Alexander Dudchak called the large contracts for the supply of French boats and helicopters "a kind of political bribe to Paris." A similar logic, in his opinion, can be seen in Poroshenko’s decision to buy locomotives from the American company General Electric. However, the economic realities of Ukraine dictate the need to purchase their own, albeit not very high-quality, products, the expert argues.
“I can explain the policies of Avakov and the central authorities only with a hypertrophied desire to cajole the West in the context of Russia's confrontation. In this case, we are talking about Paris. For example, now on the agenda is a possible meeting in the Norman format. True, France is in no hurry to benefit its Kiev partners, ”stated Dudchak.