The companies on the new list of EU sanctions include the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) of Russia. The sanctions list was published in the Official Journal of the European Union, and it immediately entered into force.
Sanctions were imposed on Russian oil companies, which will now be able to raise capital on European markets for a maximum of 30 days (90 days in the previous round of sanctions). In addition, companies in the European Union are prohibited from helping Russia to develop difficult-to-mine oil fields. The restrictions on the Uralvagonzavod railway equipment manufacturer were also tightened.
It is unclear what impact the European Union’s sanctions will have on the aviation sector. The UAC unites Russia’s key assets in the area of development and construction of aircraft. These include partners of Ukraine’s Antonov state aircraft manufacturing enterprise (Kyiv) - the Voronezh Aircraft Manufacturing Company, the Ilyushin Finance Co. leasing company (IFC), the Aviastar-SP plant (Ulyanovsk), the Kazan-based Gorbunov aircraft plant, and others.
The Voronezh aircraft plant assembles An-148 airplanes, using Ukrainian components among others. Purchase of this type of aircraft is financed through the IFC.
Antonov has held talks with Aviastar-SP on production of an upgraded version of the An-124 Ruslan aircraft, although the project has not progressed. The Kazan aircraft plant intended to build the An-70, which is a new transport aircraft developed by Ukraine, but the project is essentially frozen because of the deterioration of relations between Ukraine and Russia.
In addition, Antonov and UAC have a joint venture called UAC-Antonov, which they established with equal shares in October 2010. Coordination of joint programs in the aviation industry, including promotion of aircraft and after-sales service for aircraft, was stated as the purpose of this joint venture.
