The aircraft carrier, which has been the subject for major Russian-Indian controversy over the last year, will be taken out of the dry dock and put on the water an Indian newspaper reports with reference to sources in the Sevmash shipyard. A contract signed in 2004, said that the vessel was to be completed and handed over to the Indians in 2008. However, Sevmash last year announced that it would not be able to complete the vessel in time and that it needed more money for the job. A revised contract between the sides is reported to be about one billion USD more expensive than the original agreement. The vessel is now reported to be handed over in 2011. Sources in Severodvinsk now say that the painting of the vessel’s interior and exterior is about to be completed and that the vessel in the “near future” will be put on the water. After that, the old tower of the ship will be removed and work with the new engine and other equipment will start.
