Slovenia Gets New Russian-Built Patrol Boat

Russia has delivered a Project 10410 Svetlyak-class multipurpose patrol boat to Slovenia as a partial payment of Russia's debt to the Balkan country.

Built at the St. Petersburg-based Almaz shipyard, the ship, called Triglav, reached the Slovenian port of Koper on Nov. 21. There, Slovenian Defense Minister Ljubica Jelusic called it "one of the most state-of-the-art and certainly one of the youngest ships in the Adriatic Sea," Slovenia's STA news agency reported.

The Triglav left the shipyard in the Baltic Sea on Nov. 9, according to the Almaz website.

Russian defense experts estimate that the Triglav is worth $35 million.

Russia's $129 million debt to Slovenia dates back to the Soviet era. Slovenia, once part of Yugoslavia, inherited part of Moscow's debt to Yugoslavia after that country's disintegration.

The 49.5-meter-long Svetlyaks, with crews of 28, are capable of speeds of 30 knots and a range of 2,200 miles. Twenty-six have entered service with the Russian Navy since the first one was commissioned in 1988.

On Nov. 12, the second Svetlyak boat contracted by a foreign client, Vietnam, was floated out of the Almaz shipyard.