The Ukrainian Defence Ministry has plans to spend $2bn on four indigenous corvettes by 2021, Ukraine Defence Minister Mikhail Yesel said.

The lead ship is expected to be constructed in 2016 in the Mykolaiv-based Black Sea Shipyard.

In order to minimise costs, the project will involve designing and constructing the ships in Ukraine with foreign ship weapons and equipment to eliminate foreign policy risk.

The Ukrainian Government had approved a defence programme for building ten ships-class corvettes in March 2009, however, due to budget limits the project has been reassumed to building only four ships.