Turkey purchased four S-400 missile defense systems, Russia's state-run defense company Rostec CEO said in an interview published Wednesday.
Rostec CEO Sergei Chemezov told Russian daily Kommersant that the purchase will cost Turkey $2.5 billion, confirming previous reports regarding financial details of the deal between Ankara and Moscow.
"The Russian and Turkish finance ministries have already completed the negotiations and the only thing left is to approve the final documents. [Turkey] will pay 45 percent of the total amount defined in the contract in advance, while 55 percent [will be paid with] funds from a Russian credit," Chemezov said.
He added that the first system's delivery is planned for March 2020.
Explaining how the S-400 deal with Turkey is beneficial for Russia, Chemezov said: "It is the first NATO country to acquire our latest air defense system S-400."
Turkey agreed to buy two S-400's — Russia's most advanced long-range anti-aircraft missile system — in September.
With an aim to address its growing defense needs, Turkey decided to purchase the S-400 missile defense system from Russia. Turkey will be the first NATO member country to purchase the system. For this reason, it has faced criticism from other member states claiming that Turkey is moving away from NATO.
Pointing out the wide gap between rhetoric and reality, Turkey stressed that the decision to buy the defense system from Russia is not politically motivated but should be considered as an effort to meet the defense needs of the country. Officials from Ankara have said that Turkey first attempted to purchase a defense system from NATO member states, but never had its demands addressed. Upon the criticism from allies, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg ended speculations on Sep. 19, when he said member states had the sovereign right to make decisions regarding their military purchases.
With the purchase of the S-400s, Ankara aims to build Turkey's first long-range air and anti-missile defense system to guard against threats in the region.
Moreover, Turkey seeks to build its own missile defense systems as the deal also involves the transfer of technology and know-how. The S-400 system, which was introduced in 2007, is the new generation of Russian missile systems, and so far Russia has only sold them to China and India.
