The operation in the Barents Sea will be postponed and take place in "late summer or early autumn", Deputy Premier Ilya Klebanov said citing a considerable amount of work. Signing of the contract between Design Bureau Rubin and the international consortium is postponed accordingly.

Klebanov reiterates that Russia will meet its financial obligations ($25 million) and says the Kursk International Foundation is the one encountering financial difficulties.

"We are not sure even now that we will know what caused the tragedy even with the Kursk lifted and moved to drydock. But if we do discover the reason, we will reveal it," Klebanov says.