Launching the stern of the first Russian Mistral type dock assault helicopter carrier "Vladivostok" at the Baltic Shipyard. (RIA Novosti)

The stern portion of the first Russian Mistral-class helicopter carrier has been launched in St. Petersburg and will sail to France, where its body is to be assembled. It is due to be completed in October, and its twin will be delivered in 2014.

A bottle of champagne was smashed on Wednesday on the new helicopter-carrying amphibious assault ship ‘Vladivostok’ to celebrate the timely launch of its stern part, RT’s Maria Finoshina reports from St. Petersburg’s Baltiysky shipyard.

The launch follows the pledge by Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin that the ship “will be ready on time,” and return from France fitted with its bow this October. By this he refuted the earlier remarks by a defense official that the stern might not be completed within deadline.

A scale model of Mistral helicopter carrier showcased at the 2011 International Maritime Defence Show at St. Petersburg's Lenexpo exhibition center. (RIA Novosti)

  In October 2014, the second Mistral-class ship will be delivered to Russia, Rogozin added, referring to the helicopter carrier ‘Sevastopol’, which was laid at the DCNS shipyard in France's Saint-Nazaire on June 18.

The Mistral-class multipurpose ships have enough capacity to carry 16 helicopters, up to 40 tanks and some 600 troops. With addition of their operational range of nearly 40,000km, the new-generation vessels are said to be of a strategic importance for the Russian navy.

“This ship is like a Swiss knife, it can be used both for military and civilian purposes. It’s a hospital, it’s a command point, it’s an assault ship, and it’s a headquarters. It would be great for each of our four fleets to have that ship,” military expert Ruslan Pukhov told RT. 

Mistral class amphibious assault ship (AFP Photo)

In their effort to ‘end austerity’, France will cut spending for the first time in over 55 years, by $2 billion.

Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault confirmed on Tuesday that the French Government will decrease spending year on year. The government is facing opposition from lawmakers who claim the deficit will be higher than expected this year.

"This is the first time that we will propose to Parliament such a reduction. It is a structural effort," said Ayrualt.

The central government will cut spending in 2014 by $2 billion to avoid unpopular tax rises and quell unsustainable spending.

750 million euro will be cut from central government support and 750 million euro will be cut from ministry budgets. Ayuralt said the government’s priorities would remain unchanged: job creation, education, and housing.

Opposition lawmakers like Gilles Carrez who heads the finance commission at the national Assembly, said in an interview to Le Figaro the government would miss its targets, and that deficit in the euro zone's second-largest economy could reach 4 percent in 2013. Carrez calculated this to be €20 billion higher than anticipated.

After pledging to cut France's deficit to 3 percent this year, President Francois Hollande and the Socialist government revised their predictions and updated their deficit forecast to 3.7 percent of GDP. 

 Hollande has not yet been able to deliver on his promise of 0.1 percent growth, on which he campaigned a year ago.

Hollande isn’t alone. Within the 17 member eurozone, only Germany and Austria have managed to generate positive growth, the rest are left in a similar predicament as France- slow growth, high unemployment, a looming triple dip recession, and a need to somehow cut more.

To reach their budget deficit goal, France should cut the public deficit to 3.9 percent of gross domestic product this year, then 3.6 percent in 2014 and 2.8 percent in 2015.

France’s economy officially slipped back into recession in May, after it shrunk for a second consecutive quarter. The IMF has forecast the economy will shrink 0.2 percent this year, more than the 0.1 percent initially predicted.

Hollande has done all he can to appear to fight the German dictate of austerity, even auctioning off presidential vintage wines to contribute to the endangered budget.

President Hollande at first stood with Merkel on austerity, but after being met by 30,000 protestors on the first anniversary of his inauguration, among slews of other protests, he has shifted his position to resonate with public opinion.

The President has asked China to increase investment in France, to create a balance in employment between the two countries, the head of state said at a speech at the Elysee Palace on Tuesday before members of the China Entrepreneur Club (CEC). 

"There is no fear in French society," Mr. Holland assured the entrepreneurs, inviting the Chinese to up their stake in French projects, LePoint reported. Four percent of foreign investors in France are Chinese, and the CEC generates 245 billion euros a year.