 "Split" was laid down in January 1978 at the A.M. Gorky Shipyard in Zelenodolsk as the fourth ship in its class (Projekt 1159).Launched on 21 April 1979, it was temporarily commissioned with the Soviet Navy on 30 November 1979 under the name "Sokol".On 10 March 1980 it was acquired by the JRM for a price of 18.27 million dollars, given a new name, "Split", and classified as a VPBR (hr.