ZAGREB, February 5, 2018 – Croatia’s Defence Ministry (MORH) on Monday reported that in the matter of 4 MiG 21 fighter jets bought from Ukraine that were grounded for safety reasons, Minister Damir Krstičević, wishing in good faith to resolve the issue, has sent his Ukraine counterpart a proposal that the four jets be replaced with ones that have a state guarantee and that are in order.
The Jutarnji List daily earlier reported that Croatia wants to return the 4 defective MiG 21 jets to Ukraine and is asking the country’s defence minister to replace them with airworthy jets with state guarantees.
Croatia purchased the jets as part of a deal for the overhaul and expansion of its combat squadron. Three and a half years after they were delivered, Croatia’s Air Force declared that the jets were defective and unusable. Croatia paid 8 million euro for the jets to Ukraine’s Ukrspecexport and last week MORH sent an official note to Ukraine’s Defence Ministry proposing the above mentioned solution.
MORH told Hina that Krističević had informed his Ukraine counterpart, Stepan Poltorak, of the problem when Poltorak visited Croatia in January. Poltorak conceded that the Ukrainian company had not fully executed the contract, to “Croatia’s detriment.”
Polotrak explained that the Ukrainian Defence Ministry was not involved in the overhaul deal and that it was not wise of Croatia to have done business with a company and not with the Ukrainian state. He announced that he would investigate the matter, talk with the company’s representatives and inform the highest level about the situation with the MiG jets.
