Russia ‘offered MiGs to repay New Zealand for milk’, claims book
16 Oct 2013 6:37 AM IST
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia was struggling to pay the $100 million it owed New Zealand for a range of imported dairy products, Guardian reported.
In a meeting with Russian officials to chalk out payment terms, Jim Bolger, then New Zealand prime minister, was left ‘absolutely stunned’ to be offered a nuclear submarine and two MiG fighter jets in lieu of money, according to Clive Lind, the author of the book, ‘Till the Cows Came Home’.
Lind, who interviewed Bolger and former New Zealand Dairy Board chairman Dryden Spring, who was also present at the meeting, said the offer had been made by Alexander Shokhin, then deputy prime minister of Russia. ‘The Russians were trying to come up with lines of credit before Shokhin mentioned there were other funding arrangements,’ Lind was quoted by the daily as saying.
‘He pointed out that MiG jets were highly desirable and that they also had surplus tanks to offer. Jim Bolger had to explain that he wasn’t in the market for second-hand tanks,’ Lind added. Perhaps most remarkably, Shokhin then offered a nuclear submarine to wipe out Russia’s debt. Noting that New Zealand was a staunchly non-nuclear country, he suggested hooking the vessel up to the national grid and using it as a power plant for a coastal city.
In a meeting with Russian officials to chalk out payment terms, Jim Bolger, then New Zealand prime minister, was left ‘absolutely stunned’ to be offered a nuclear submarine and two MiG fighter jets in lieu of money, according to Clive Lind, the author of the book, ‘Till the Cows Came Home’.
Lind, who interviewed Bolger and former New Zealand Dairy Board chairman Dryden Spring, who was also present at the meeting, said the offer had been made by Alexander Shokhin, then deputy prime minister of Russia. ‘The Russians were trying to come up with lines of credit before Shokhin mentioned there were other funding arrangements,’ Lind was quoted by the daily as saying.
‘He pointed out that MiG jets were highly desirable and that they also had surplus tanks to offer. Jim Bolger had to explain that he wasn’t in the market for second-hand tanks,’ Lind added. Perhaps most remarkably, Shokhin then offered a nuclear submarine to wipe out Russia’s debt. Noting that New Zealand was a staunchly non-nuclear country, he suggested hooking the vessel up to the national grid and using it as a power plant for a coastal city.
Next Story
