After selling the aircraft carrier Variag, Ukraine is considering the
possibility of selling another missile-carrier that has been under construction
for eight years in Mykolayiv.
Adding another missile-carrying cruiser to the Ukrainian Navy would
cause a negative response from a number of countries. It's best to sell
the warship, Valery Malev, General Director of the Ukrspetseksport arms-dealing
company, told UNIAN, adding that the company has made no offers and the
decision to sell the warship was made by the Armed Forces General Staff.
However, the Defense Ministry claims it has no information about selling
the cruiser. In July, the Ministry Board resolved to accelerate construction
of the Ukraine which is already 90% accomplished. The military expect it
to become the Ukrainian Navy's flagship, while admitting that the Navy
must be based on corvette-type warships, each being eight time smaller
in size than the Ukraine.
The defense department of the National Institute for Strategic Studies
told this author that, contrary to 90% readiness, part of the onboard systems
will have to be replaced as they have been neither operated nor tested
for quite some time. Replacing them means that Russian manufacturers will
have to be solicited. Another problem is the cruiser's missile systems,
particularly cruise missiles. Whether of Russian or other manufacture,
their appearance onboard will cause concern among Ukraine's Black Sea neighbors.
To finish the cruiser's construction Ukraine needs some $50 million,
while the market value of this class of ship is $500-$800 million. How
soon construction will be completed, if ever, will be determined when the
1999 budget is discussed. Money for the cruiser as military spending will
have to be put in the budget as a separate item. All told, proposed military
expenses are only half the minimum required, both in terms of maintenance
and materiel. As it is, the army is likely to spend the next year pinching
and scraping the same way it has done for the past several years. On the
other hand, if no funds can be raised to finish the cruiser, there will
be few if any foreign buyers for the unfinished Ukraine, the more so that
there are not many countries prepared to splurge even for a brand new missile-carrying
cruiser ticking like a Swiss watch.






