I noticed the source of the article was voice of russia so I looked for other sources:

http://www.france24.com/en/20140107-competitor-sabotage-behi... (french news)

http://www.euronews.com/2014/01/06/france-uae-spy-satellite-...

Suggestions are made that the US or another bidding competitor planted the spying tech to ruin the french-UAE deal.

Still can't say if we are talking hardware parts or software backdoor.