MOSCOW, August 5 (RAPSI) – Russian Defense Ministry officials have instructed the concerned agencies to file a lawsuit against Germany’s Rheinmetall Works after Rheinmetall cancelled a contract to build a combat training center in Mulino in the Nizhny Novgorod Region, Deputy Defense Minister Yury Borisov told RIA Novosti.

The media has reported that the German company has terminated a 100 million euro project to build the training center. The project was cooperative effort with the Russian Armed Forces.

“Of course, all this is regulated by the terms of the contract, and naturally we’ll defend our interests,” Borisov noted, while replying to a question as to whether the Defense Ministry was preparing to sue the German company and to exact a penalty for its failure to fulfill the contract.

He stressed that the Mulino project would be implemented no matter what and that German combat training simulators would be replaced with Russian equivalents.

When asked about Rheinmetall’s stake in the project, Borisov noted that “we know that [former Defense Minister] Anatoly Serdyukov loved all things foreign, and we have to find out whether all this was necessary or not.”

Under the contract, the Defense Ministry has the right to demand a penalty if the German company fails to deliver on its commitments, Borisov said. He believes that Rheinmetall has deliberately made this issue public in order to obtain government support and avoid paying the penalty. “Rheinmetall understands the risks and I’m sure has informed its government about them,” Borisov noted in conclusion.