The Chinese businessman who bought an unfinished Soviet-era vessel that became his country’s first aircraft carrier was quoted on Tuesday as saying that Beijing never repaid the USD 120 million it cost him. Entrepreneur Xu Zengping paid Ukraine a USD 20 million fee for the Varyag, which was eventually commissioned into the People’s liberation Army (PlA) Navy as the liaoning. But the price ballooned once towing it to China — a process that was delayed for years — and other costs were included.
Xu also revealed that the ship was still fitted with its original engines at the time it was transported to China, contrary to reports. Xu, a former PlA basketball player, was chosen to negotiate the acquisition, posing as a businessman who wanted to use it for a floating casino in Macau, and then giving it to the authorities. But he told Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post newspaper: “I still haven’t received one fen (one hundredth of a yuan) from our Government. I just handed it over to the navy.”