NTV, April 11, 2001
When questioned in the Hague about why Russia rejected an offer of $45 million from Europe to raise the Kursk submarine, Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov stated that Russia did not refuse foreign assistance in raising the nuclear submarine, but that “the form in which the aid is offered is a problem.”
According to Ivanov, “If such aid is offered to solve the technical problems of raising the submarine, this is one thing. If it is connected with other political issues it is quite a different matter.”
Ivanov emphasized that the commission would proceed to finance the operation from the Russian budget. Along with this, he added that Russia was open to collaboration with other organizations. Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Kudrin announced that the government had solved the problems of the financing for raising the Kursk. “If the Kursk foundation fails to find the required money, we will provide normal financing of the operation on our own,” stressed Kudrin.
