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President Lets Italians Buy into Sukhoi
Russian President Vladimir Putin has given Alenia Aeronautica, part of the Finmeccanica group, permission to buy 25 percent plus one share in ZAO Sukhoi Civil Aircraft. It is the first official deal in which a foreign company has bought a blocking package in a Russian aircraft construction firm. The deal is to be finalized by midsummer. Sukhoi doubled it authorized capital to 2.22 billion rubles last August in preparation for the current deal.
Alenia will invest about $200 million in the development of the regional Sukhoi SuperJet 100 this year. The company had provided fuselages for the Boeing 717 until production of that model was halted at the beginning of 2006. Now Alenia will equip the SSJ 100 for foreign sales and business aviation and it may produce parts for its fuselage. The companies formed the SuperJet International joint venture in September of last year. That company has authorized capital of ˆ15 million. Alenia owns 51 percent in it. It will sell the SSJ 100 abroad and service it after sales.
Although some foreign companies, such as Pratt & Whitney and Snecma, had found ways to do so already, foreign companies were allowed to acquire greater than 25-percent shares in Russian aviation construction companies only after amendments were made to the law “On the Development of Aviation” in October 2006 under which the head of state can approve such deals. Those amendments came after Alenia and Sukhoi signed an agreement in the summer of that year in the presence of Putin and Italian prime minister Romano Prodi.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Jan. 15, 2008
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