Contract for supply of Su-30MKM aircraft initialled in Malaysia

A contract on supply of the Su-30MKM aircraft to Malyasia was initialled in the course of the visit of a Russian military delegation headed by Minister of Defence Sergei Ivanov to Kuala Lumpur, the Russian and Malaysian Defence Ministers told journalists on Monday after the end of their talks.

"The matter concerns the forthcoming deliveries of the up-to-date multipurpose aircraft Su-30MKM", Sergei Ivanov said. "The sum of the contract approximately corresponds to the equivalent of 900 million dollars". Ivanov also stressed that "the gist of the matter is even not in the sum but in the fact that Russia and Malaysia are building close military-technical cooperation for a long term". According to the Russian Minister, "maintenance of the aircraft and the possibilities to modernise it in the future are already laid down" in the terms of this deal.

In Ivanov's opinion, "it is very important that Russia has become firmly established on such a promising market on a long-term basis". "This country plays an important role in the ASEAN", the Minister emphasized. As Sergei Ivanov said, "some juridical formalities will remain" after the initialling of the contract, and for this reason "it will formally come into effect somewhat later, though the basic provisions have already been agreed upon". According to the information of the Defence Minister of Malaysia, "the final formalisation of the agreement on the Su-30 aircraft will take place within the next few months".

Sergei Ivanov said that Deputy Minister of Defence - chairman of the Committee on Military-Technical Cooperation with Foreign Countries Mikhail Dmitriyev would stay in Malaysia after the end of his visit here. According to the Minister, Dmitriyev will hold a conference of the bilateral Russian-Malaysian commission on military-technical cooperation at which "other promising projects for the future, apart from the Su planes, will be considered".