PARIS, October 29. /TASS/. rance is unable to confirm at this point November 14 has been set as the date when the first amphibious assault ship Mistral will be hand over to Russia, the presidential pres-service has said.

“At the moment we have no information on that score. Please send in a written request,” the press-service’s official told TASS on Wednesday.

The spokesman for the contractor company DCNS, Emmanuel Gaudez, has not mentioned any likely date of the handover to this day, either.

“We shall not release any information regarding dates in the future, precisely as have all along. That’s the position of ours in view of the complicated political situation surrounding the contract. Official statements may follow only from the French leadership,” the contractor’s spokesman said.

According to the BMF television channel France does not confirm Russia’s statements it will have the helicopter carrier on November 14. No reliable information regarding the delivery date has emerged at the naval exhibition Euronaval at Le Bourge, near Paris.

Earlier, Russia’s First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin declared that the first helicopter would be handed over to Russia on November 14.

“Rosoboronexport has received an invitation to Saint Lazare, where 360 Russian naval sailors and 60 instructors are present for training more crews, for the handover of the first ship, The Vladivostok, and for launching a second ship,” Rogozin said.

The contract for building helicopter-carrying amphibious assault ships for the Russian Navy was concluded in June 2011. The first Mistral class ship, The Vladivostok, was launched in October 2013. In September, although the question of its handover remains suspended, it made a test voyage with Russian sailors on board. A second Mistral, The Sevastopol, is to be delivered next year.

The contract’s overall value is €1.12 billion.