Ivan Safronov Kommersant, February 16, 2001, p. 1
SUMMARY:
The contract between the Central Design Bureau Rubin and the American-Dutch-Norwegian consortium was not signed yesterday because the Russian government had not transacted $25 million to the Kursk International Foundation. If the money is not transacted by the end of February, the submarine will be left on the seabed. The Russian White House offered guarantees that the payment would be made within the next two or three months but the consortium would have none of that.
An official of the Kursk International Foundation says the organization intends to appeal for explanations to President Vladimir Putin who promised to have the Kursk lifted in summer’2001.
