CHINA IS ONCE again considering purchasing the aircraft carrier the Varyag, with discussions taking place during the recent visit of the Ukrainian president Leoind Kuchma to Beijing.
The Varyag, the first Soviet-designed carrier intended to be equipped with a steam catapult, was three-quarters complete at the Nikolayev shipyard in Ukraine when work stopped. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, neither Russia nor Ukraine has been able to finance completion of work.
Anatoly Kinakh, Ukrainian deputy prime minister accompanying Kuchma in China, says that several different options were discussed, ranging from the completion of the carrier at one of Chinese shipyards, to selling it off as scrap metal. Kinakh considers that a sale of the Varyag as a combat ship "...is rather possible"
Kinakh is quoted by news agency Interfax-Ukraine as saying that the Ukrainian Government understands that, if completed and sold, the carrier may change the balance of power in the region.
Source: Flight International