Poland is proposing to supply Brazil with around 100 PZL Mielec M-28 Skytruck transports and other defence equipment as part of efforts to pay its $3 billion debt to the South American nation.
A senior Polish delegation, comprising finance and economy ministry officials, is due to travel to Brazil in the next few weeks to discuss the offer.
Options for settling the debt, which was accumulated during the 1970s under communist rule, were also discussed during a recent official visit to Brazil by Polish prime minister Jerzy Buzek.
"We proposed restructuring this debt by selling some military products," says Marek Novakovsky, who will represent Buzek in the delegation. "One of the main topics is the Skytruck," he adds.
The M-28 is a Polish-manufactured, Westernised version of the Antonov An-28, fitted with Pratt &Whitney Canada PT6A turboprops, Hartzell five-bladed propellers and Bendix King avionics.
The Poles have already sold the aircraft in South America where the Venezuelan National Guard took delivery of the first of six aircraft on firm order in late 1996.
Source: Flight International
