Austria's Diamond Aircraft is in talks with Russian manufacturers over possible licence production of its light aircraft and Austrian-designed engines in Russia.
A Diamond delegation travelled to Russia on 16 October for talks at the Aviakor factory in Samara, according to a report in Russia's business daily Vedomosti. Diamond hopes to produce components in Russia in order to avoid prohibitive import duties. The firm is in talks with Nizhnegorosky Motory (Nizhny Novgorod Motors), owner of Russian car manufacturer GAZ.
The director of Nizhnegorosky Motory's aviation division Igor Gorevatsky confirms that talks have been held, and says Diamond is proposing manufacture of Austria's Steyr diesel engines, which GAZ builds under licence for export variants of its light vans.
Diamond anticipates demand for its aircraft in Russia could reach around 600 aircraft a year, with up to 200 to government-owned organisations and departments. In order to compete for state contracts, however it must use Russian-built components.
Diamond is seeking to sell a number of aircraft to national carrier Aeroflot for its planned training centre which is scheduled to open in 2009.
Source: Flight International
