Company News

04.12.2009

RUSSIAN HELICOPTERS AND UZROSAVIA BOOSTING MAINTENANCE IN CENTRAL ASIA

Moscow/4 December 2009 – Russian Helicopters, JSC, and UZROSAVIA (Uzbekistan) have signed an agreement on the principles of cooperation in service and maintenance of Russian rotorcraft. The agreement was signed in Moscow and will coordinate the cooperation of the two companies on service and maintenance of Russian rotorcraft in Uzbekistan and other Central Asian countries. The agreement is effective 5 years and may be continued.

Cooperation with UZROSAVIA comes as another step under the Russian Helicopters aftersales service development strategy, envisioning a global service network with MRO centres in all key regions to support operators of Russian rotorcraft. Building a global service network will see Russian Helicopters shift from selling just the product to offering lifecycle support.

“The agreement with UZROSAVIA is part of our initiative to legitimize service and maintenance of Russian rotorcraft in the CIS. This document allows our partners from neighbouring states to receive certification in Russia. We are sure our work proves efficient in economic terms and are expecting long-term beneficial cooperation with our partners from Uzbekistan,” Russian Helicopters COO Andrei Shibitov announced.

“Our company has been a successful maintenance and repair centre for Mi-8 and Mi-24 helicopters since 1993. We hope that cooperation with Russian helicopters will see us starting repairs of the Mi-8/17. Our services will be available not only to operators in Uzbekistan but also those in neighbouring countries,” Abid Mirzaev, Director General, UZROSAVIA, stated at the signing ceremony.

Joint Venture UZROSAVIA was established pursuant to the inter-governmental agreement on cooperation in establishing and running Uzbekistan-Russian Joint Venture UZROSAVIA of 7 March 2007 between the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Russian Federation. The Joint Venture was based on the Chirchik Aviation Repair Plant – subsidiary of GAO TAPOiCH. UZROSAVIA handles repairs and upgrades of the Mi-8 and Mi-24 helicopter families, parts manufacture, and repairs of other special purpose equipment. The founders of UZROSAVIA: from the side of Uzbekistan the Chirchik Aviation Repair Plant and SE Uzmachsusimpex; from side of Russia – State Unitary Enterprise Rosoboronexport, UIC Oboronprom, and the Novosibirsk Aviation Repair Plant. Authorities in power from the Uzbekistan side are the Ministry of Economy and Ministry of Defense, and from the Russian side – the Federal Service of Military-Technical Cooperation and the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Russian Helicopters, JSC is an affiliated company of UIC Oboronprom. It is the managing body of the following helicopter industry enterprises: Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant, Kamov, Ulan-Ude Aviation Plant, Kazan Helicopters, Rostvertol, Progress Arsenyev Aviation Company, Kumertau Aviation Production Enterprise, Vpered Moscow Machine-Building Plant, Stupino Machine Production Plant, Reductor-PM , Helicopter Service Company (VSK), Novosibirsk Aircraft Repairing Plant and Ural Works of Civil Aviation.

UIC Oboronprom, JSC is a multi-profile industrial and investment group established in 2002. Its main tasks include helicopter engineering (Russian Helicopters managing company), engine-building (United Engine Industry Corporation managing company), air defense systems and complex electronic systems (Defense Systems holding company), and other machine-building activities. The companies of the group reported revenues of over 100 billion roubles in 2008.