Russians insist on involvement in Mi-24 modernizations

The Russian government does not want Poland to modernize 100 Mi-24 military helicopters without the special involvement of Russian companies. Defense Minister Jerzy Szmajdziński is negotiating this issue in Moscow, as last year all states belonging to the Vysehrad Group (Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia) agreed that Poland would renovate 100 helicopters belonging to the group - a contract worth $500 million. Poland wanted to only buy engines from the Russian parties and carry out the rest of the work on their own at the WZL plant in Łódź. Russian defense minister Siergiej Iwanow stated that such projects must not be carried out without the participation of the Russian designers and producers as, "We also guarantee the quality of the modernized units." He also stressed that the Mi-24, modernized by the Polish party, would not remain the same. Today, Poland and Russia signed an agreement on military-technical co-operation, which will make such projects more elastic and easier, especially in terms of renovation and modernization of military equipment. (Rzeczpospolita, p. B2; www.polskieradio.pl) M.M.