According to a French military official, the contract price of two helicopter carriers will be about €950 million. Originally, these Mistral-class ships were destined for the Russian Federation. Then, Egypt expressed an interest in the deal with France. So Mistrals will be delivered to the Egyptian fleet in March 2016.
In August 2015, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his French counterpart Francois Hollande made a joint decision on the termination of the Mistral contract. France had to pay nearly €1 billion in compensation to Russia for non-performance of the contract and for fail delivery of ships. However, as it was reported later, the compensation came in at more than €1 billion, as indirect losses, suffered by Russia in the process of construction of two Mistral-class helicopter carriers, were included in this invoice. On September 23, Francois Hollande confirmed the deal concluded with Egypt on the sale of the Mistrals.