The Kursk Foundation has appealed to leaders of the European Union, Japan, the US, Canada, and Norway to grant Russia money for raising the submarine Kursk. The foundation asks each of the countries to give 1.9 million euros ($1.7 million). The appeal was signed by co-chairmen of the foundation: former foreign minister of the USSR Alexander Bessmertnykh and former Defense Minister of the Netherlands Willem van Eckelen. They asked leaders of the aforementioned countries not to delay. If the submarine is not raised this year, this operation will be much more dangerous next year, if it is possible at all.

This appeal is a desperate gesture. The Russian government has not allocated $25 million to the fund. Without this money, the American-Dutch-Norwegian consortium refuses to start preparations for the operation. If these preparations are not started in March, the submarine will not be raised this year, since weather conditions only make it possible to make the attempt in summer.