Kommersant, March 24, 2001, p. 1
SUMMARY:
Prime Minister Mikhail Kasianov has signed a Cabinet decree on the operation to raise the Kursk submarine. The state client of the retrieval operation is the Defense Ministry. It will determine the procedure and terms of the operation, and administrer it. From April to June, the Finance Ministry will allocate the Defense Ministry up to 500 million rubles to repair vessels that will be used for this operation, and to develop the technical projects required to raise the Kursk. Besides, the Finance Ministry has been instructed to determine revenue sources for purchasing the retrieval equipment. Up to 900 million rubles will be required for this purpose.
The Rubin design bureau, based in St. Petersburg, will sign a contract for this operation with the international consortium.
However, it is not clear as yet when the necessary $25 million will be paid to the contractors. This decree only mentions the intention to find revenue sources. Meanwhile, the delay in state funding is keeping the contract from being signed; so even the preparatory work has not begun yet. This puts a question mark over whether the operation will go ahead this year.
