Russian Helicopters to open service centers in China

Russian Helicopters to open service centers in China
Russian Helicopters to open service centers in China

The Russian Helicopters Holding Company (part of Rostec State Corporation) and the Chinese company United Aviation Technology negotiated about establishing a maintenance and repair center for Russian helicopters in Shenzhen (China) as part of Airshow China 2018. The contract is to be signed by the end of the year.

In February 2016 the holding company signed a framework agreement with CITIC Offshore Helicopters, AVIC International and Avicopter (which have formed the Chinese joint venture United Aviation Technology). The framework agreement provides for creating the maintenance and repair center for Russian helicopters Ka-32A11VS and Mi-171 in Shenzhen. The Chinese party also expressed interest in upgrading the maintenance, repair and overhaul base in Tianjin to carry out similar work.

“Currently, Russian Helicopters and United Aviation Technology are considering the draft general contract for creating a maintenance and repair center for the Ka-32А11VC and Mi-171 helicopters in Shenzhen and the draft contract for technical audit at the aircraft maintenance and repair base in Tianjin. At Airshow China we had another round of negotiations in order to sign both documents before the end of the year,” said Russian Helicopters CEO Andrey Boginsky.

He added that China has a large fleet of Russian helicopters. Thus, the Chinese side is interested in prompt opening of authorized maintenance and repair centers in the country. This will allow providing qualified services for helicopters throughout their life cycle.

“China is one of the largest operators of Russian-made helicopters, the number of registered Russian aircraft is over 300 units. Mi-8/17 and Ka-32A11BC helicopters are successfully operated throughout the PRC, in particular, in regions with difficult terrain and harsh climate conditions,” said Anatoly Serdyukov, industrial director of the aviation cluster of Rostec. “The creation of a center for maintenance and repair of Ka-32A11BC and Mi-171 helicopters in Shenzhen is an essential infrastructure project that will increase the competitiveness and export potential of our helicopter technology. We expect to sign a contract before the end of the year”.

JSC Russian Helicopters (part of Rostec State Corporation) is one of the world leaders in helicopter industry, the only developer and manufacturer of helicopters in Russia. The holding company was established in 2007. The head office is located in Moscow. The holding company is comprised of five helicopter plants, two design bureaus, enterprises for production and maintenance of components, aircraft repair plants and a service company providing after-sales support in Russia and abroad. The buyers of the holding company’s products include the Ministry of Defense of Russia, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, EMERCOM of Russia, and other state customers, Gazprom Avia and UTair airlines, as well as major Russian and foreign companies.

Rostec State Corporation is a Russian corporation that was established in 2007 to facilitate the development, production and export of high-tech industrial products designed for civilian and military applications. The Corporation comprises over 700 organizations that are currently part of eleven holding companies operating in the military-industrial complex and four holding companies working in civilian industry, as well as over 80 directly managed organizations. Rostec’s portfolio includes well-known brands such as AVTOVAZ, KAMAZ, Kalashnikov Concern, Russian Helicopters, VSMPO AVISMA, UralVagonZavod, etc. Rostec companies are located in 60 constituent entities of the Russian Federation and supply products to more than 100 countries. In 2017, the consolidated revenue of Rostec reached RUB 1 trillion 589 billion rubles, while the consolidated net income and EBITDA amounted to 121 and 305 billion rubles respectively. In 2017 the average salary in the Corporation was 46,800 rubles. According to Rostec’s strategy, the main objective of the Corporation is to ensure that Russia has a technological advantage in highly competitive global markets. Rostec’s key objectives include the introduction of a new techno-economic paradigm and digitalization of Russian economy.