PARIS, May 29 (Xinhua) -- France on Tuesday announced it had signed an inter-governmental agreement with Ukraine to provide it with 55 Airbus helicopters valued at 555 million euros (641.69 million U.S. dollars).
"France plans to financially support this operation with public guarantees and a treasury loan," the French economy and finances ministry said in a statement.
The ordered helicopters will be used by the police and border guards "for civil security operations," it added.
Under the accord, the eurozone's second largest power will help Ukraine to establish a maintenance and training center.
"This agreement is a decisive step towards the achievement of this bilateral project, which would be the most important between the two countries since the independence of Ukraine in 1991," said the ministry.
Ukrainian parliament was expected to ratify the accord "in the coming weeks," according to the statement.
