Agreement signed on construction of Mistral ships

Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin and French Defense Minister Alain
Juppe signed an agreement today on the construction of "Mistral" ships
for Russia, RIA Novosti reports.

The ceremony took place in the presence of French President Nicolas
Sarkozy at the shipyards of the STX company, a manufacturer of Mistral
ships, on the helicopter deck of the Dixmude ship, which is currently
under construction.

Russia and France officially announced at the end of December 2010
that a consortium of the United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC) and the
DCNS (France) will build two ships of the type "Mistral" in San
Nazaire (France) and two in Russia. The tender was announced in
October by the Ministry of Defense.