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Vietnam Says Handover of Russian Base Underway
March 21, 2002
HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnam said on Thursday that Russia's handover of the strategic naval base of Cam Ranh Bay was underway but the two countries were still negotiating as to when it would be completed.
"The two sides are carrying out hand-over procedures at the port as mutually agreed," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Phan Thuy Thanh told a news briefing.
Thanh was speaking a week before Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov was due to visit Vietnam, although he is not due to go to the port.
She said Vietnam and Russia were negotiating to finalize legal procedures as part of the termination of a 1979 treaty allowing Russia to use the base.
The lease, which runs until 2004, allowed Russia rent free use of the port.
Vietnam's Defense Minister, Pham Van Tra, told Reuters last week the Russian withdrawal would be completed in May.
But Russian navy commander-in-chief Vladimir Kuroyedov was quoted as saying earlier this week the base would be closed before the year-end and not in May as time was needed to pull out equipment.
The base, in the southern province of Khanh Hoa, is considered one of Asia's finest deepwater anchorages, offering strategic access to the sea lanes of the South China Sea.
Tra reiterated Vietnam did not intend to lease the base to any other country in future, but could offer its use for rescue missions and some services, including ship repairs.
The United States has suggested an open port arrangement once the Russians leave, which would allow warships of all nations to call. But analysts say the prospect of U.S. ships visiting the base would not please China.
Jane's Intelligence Review said Cam Ranh was Moscow's biggest overseas base outside the Warsaw Pact in 1984, but it was substantially scaled back as superpower tensions eased.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, Moscow eventually limited its presence to a signal intelligence facility.
Vietnam Airlines said earlier this month it was interested in using Cam Ranh Bay to help serve the tourism industry.
Its general director Nguyen Xuan Hien said the U.S.-built airfield had
potential as it was convenient for the tourist city of Nha Trang, which has only
a small airport.
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