KIEV, November 23. /TASS/. Maintenance costs and the lack of trained pilots made Ukrainian government refuse to receive up to 20 fighter-bombers F-18, former Ukrainian Deputy Defence Minister Leonid Polyakov who is a consultant of Ukrainian parliamentary committee for national security and defence told TV channel 24.

This was reported in the summer of 2014 that as part of modernisation of its Air Force Canadian government might hand over gratis up to 20 fighter jets F-18 decommissioned earlier in the country.

Kiev denied Canada’s offer for several reasons, Polyakov said.

“First of all, these are financial reasons, because each pilot is served by several thousand special staff providing for his flight,” he said.

Meanwhile, piloting of this warplane would require advanced training courses for pilots, because most of them had been training to steer Soviet warplanes before this, he said.