BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, March 23 (UPI) -- Russia wants a controlling stake in the Dastan torpedo plant for writing off Kyrgyzstan's debt to Moscow.
The Dastan torpedo plant produces the advanced VA-111 Shkval supercavitating torpedoes used by the Russian navy, originally developed by the Soviet Union as a counter weapon to U.S. carriers. Shkval torpedoes are capable of speeds in excess of 230 mph.
Russia said it is no longer willing to write off Kyrgyzstan's $180 million debt in exchange for 48 percent of the shares of the Dastan facility as originally agreed in 2008 with the administration of the then Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev.
Russia is now asking for a 75 percent stake in the torpedo plant in return for canceling Kyrgyzstan's outstanding debt, citing the depreciation of its equipment, or says it is willing to write off a smaller percentage of the Kyrgyz debt for the previously agreed 48 percent stake in Dastan, RosBalt news agency reported.
