Two French "Super-Puma" helicopters will replenish the Georgian air force's fleetThe most important development in the Georgian president's visit to
France was the purchase of two AS332 Super Puma helicopters. Mikhail
Saakashvili attended the signing of the contract with the Eurocopter
Company, and said "We have lot of worn-out helicopters produced in
Russia, but their state makes flights dangerous, that's why we've
decided to replace them with new ones of better quality."
A source in the ministry for infrastructure told VK, that "the non-military model of the helicopters was purchased in order to use them for peaceful purposes - rescue work and humanitarian goods delivery, as well as the transportation of personnel." One of the helicopters will be stationed in Tbilisi, while the other one will be based in west Georgia.
Meanwhile experts say using the helicopters for military purposes won't be a big deal - "fitting a machine-gun will take only 10 minutes". The cost of the helicopters is estimated at 15 million euros, while a Russian Mi-8 is less expensive. But experts say that Russia would never sell MI-8 copters to Georgia.
Many Georgian political experts believe the authorities were swayed by
political considerations over the deal. "The government could have purchase less expensive helicopters for rescue work," commented
independent expert David Avalishvili. "But the Georgian president, for
whom the official visit was a kind of success in itself, wanted to
demonstrate Paris's readiness for cooperation in such sensitive issue
as the purchase of dual-purpose equipment, notwithstanding the
negative response of Moscow."
Indeed, the deal got the attention of the Russian expert community,
which raised the issue of imposing sanctions against Eurocopter. The Georgian foreign minister said however that "it is unlikely that Russia would impose sanctions, as it itself depends on European military equipment producers".
As concerns France in this issue, it probably wanted to appease Georgia in connection with the Russian-French deal on a Mistral helicopter carrier purchase. The Georgian authorities have expressed their discontentment with this contract, considering "Mistral" a direct threat to Georgia's security. But the difference between these deals is that the contract with Georgia has already been signed, while Russia is still holding talks on the Mistral purchase.
Georgii Kalatozishvili, Tbilisi. Exclusively for VK.
