US acquisition of 21 MiG-29s in the news!
US forced Moldova to sell MiG-29s
Moscow: Moldova's former president on Monday said the US had pressed the former Soviet republic into selling its combat aircraft cheaply to Washington and dismissed charges that a former minister had defrauded the state. Petru Lucinschi said after testifying at the trial of former defence minister Valery Pasat that the $40-million sale of 21 fighter aircraft to the US in 1997 had been clinched to meet US concerns that the aircraft would have ended up in Iran. Pasat, now a senior manager at Russia's electricity giant Unified Energy Systems, is on trial on charges of abuse of power and fraud by selling the MiG-29s too cheaply, causing a loss of $55 million to the state. Lucinschi, in office when the deal was signed, said Moldova received an offer of $93 million for the aircraft, but came under pressure to sell to Washington. "We did receive an offer from a South Korean firm ready to pay $93 million, but the Americans told us the aircraft would end up in Iran," Lucinschi said outside the court house. The US embassy in Chisinau, he said, had sent a diplomatic note threatening sanctions if the aircraft were sold to Iran. Washington offered instead to buy them as part of a plan to make arms stocks in the former Soviet Union safe. "We could not sell them to Iran under any circumstances," he said. "We couldn't engage in confrontation with the US. The price didn't suit us, but the US offered extra aid in the form of technical and humanitarian assistance." Pasat's trial is being conducted behind closed doors. After the aircraft were sent to the US, the US defence secretary of the time, William Cohen, said the sale had kept the aircraft from falling into the hands of "rogue states, including Iran". Defence lawyers say they intend to ask Cohen to testify. At the time of Pasat's arrest, lawyers suggested the charges were linked to his public statements against Moldova's Communist president Vladimir Voronin.
The Communists won a March parliamentary election after campaigning on a platform of taking Moldova out of the shadow of Russian influence and closer to the West. Voronin won election to a second term after.
The Air Letter Edition: 15775 Date: 6 July, 2005
Section: Military Page: 4 Report: 10
US forced Moldova to sell MiG-29s
Moscow: Moldova's former president on Monday said the US had pressed the former Soviet republic into selling its combat aircraft cheaply to Washington and dismissed charges that a former minister had defrauded the state. Petru Lucinschi said after testifying at the trial of former defence minister Valery Pasat that the $40-million sale of 21 fighter aircraft to the US in 1997 had been clinched to meet US concerns that the aircraft would have ended up in Iran. Pasat, now a senior manager at Russia's electricity giant Unified Energy Systems, is on trial on charges of abuse of power and fraud by selling the MiG-29s too cheaply, causing a loss of $55 million to the state. Lucinschi, in office when the deal was signed, said Moldova received an offer of $93 million for the aircraft, but came under pressure to sell to Washington. "We did receive an offer from a South Korean firm ready to pay $93 million, but the Americans told us the aircraft would end up in Iran," Lucinschi said outside the court house. The US embassy in Chisinau, he said, had sent a diplomatic note threatening sanctions if the aircraft were sold to Iran. Washington offered instead to buy them as part of a plan to make arms stocks in the former Soviet Union safe. "We could not sell them to Iran under any circumstances," he said. "We couldn't engage in confrontation with the US. The price didn't suit us, but the US offered extra aid in the form of technical and humanitarian assistance." Pasat's trial is being conducted behind closed doors. After the aircraft were sent to the US, the US defence secretary of the time, William Cohen, said the sale had kept the aircraft from falling into the hands of "rogue states, including Iran". Defence lawyers say they intend to ask Cohen to testify. At the time of Pasat's arrest, lawyers suggested the charges were linked to his public statements against Moldova's Communist president Vladimir Voronin.
The Communists won a March parliamentary election after campaigning on a platform of taking Moldova out of the shadow of Russian influence and closer to the West. Voronin won election to a second term after.
The Air Letter Edition: 15775 Date: 6 July, 2005
Section: Military Page: 4 Report: 10
