General blames Belarus for delay in S-300 transfer :: Charter'97 :: News

A Defense Ministry General said the signing of the contract to transfer to Belarus S-300 air defense missile systems was being delayed to the inconsistent position of Belarus. "The Defense Ministries of the two countries reached an accord on the transfer to Belarus of several S-300 air defense units, as part of military assistance. Under these accords, the air defense units are handed over for free, but Belarus has to pay the costs of pre-export preparations, including repairs and modernization to bring the systems to combat readiness," the high-placed official said on Wednesday. However, Belarus recently announced its intention to carry out repairs on its own, which breaches the earlier accords. "Of course, we cannot sign the contract on such terms," he said.

"Imagine some units or mechanisms, modernized by Belarus, malfunction within the CIS unified air defense system. Should we launch a probe to find the culprits and make them fix the defects? Who will be held responsible for all this?" the General said. He said under the previous accord between Moscow and Minsk, Belarus, after signing the contract, has to transfer to Russia a certain sum in convertible currency for brining the units in question to combat readiness, which will require two to three months. Russia then should pass the units to Belarus on a gratuitous basis. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov stated after a joint meeting of the boards of the Defense Ministries of the two countries in Minsk on April 28 that the agreement on granting Belarus a large number of S-300 launch units was at the stage of final coordination. In Ivanov`s view, the transfer of S-300 units would help strengthen air defense of not only Belarus, but also Russia.