Sirocco Aerospace International (SAI) has taken a holding of 25%, minus one share, in Russian aircraft design company A/O Tupolev and the Aviastar SP production factory.
Under the agreement with Gos Kom Imushestvo (Russia's state property commission), the London-based company will invest a further $280 million in development of the Tu-204 and its production over the next two years. It has already put in almost $200 million. This additional sum will make it the largest foreign investor in the Russian aviation industry, the first to hold a sizable holding in a Russian aircraft design bureau and the second to take a major stake in a production factory.
United Technologies has so far invested $400 million in Russia, including a 25% stake in PMZ, which manufactures the PS-90A engine. While Boeing has spent $1.3 billion in Russia in the past decade, this includes space programmes and the purchase of materials like titanium. EADS has recently committed to spending $2 billion in Russia over the next decade, not including investments.
Source: Flight International