A scandal has erupted between Ukraine and Kazakhstan over the construction of an An-74 airplane, the Kazakh TV channel KTK reports.
According to a news story, the National Guard of Kazakhstan has been unable to receive an airplane for which it paid more than USD 15 million for two years.
"Fulfillment of the state defense order failed essentially because of the Kharkiv Aviation Plant (KSAMC). The Ukrainian aviators have been unable to finish the promised An-74 despite the terms of the contract," the news story states.
The National Guard of Kazakhstan has demanded that the contract be terminated and the Kharkiv Aviation Plant declared an unfair participant in public procurements. However, a Kharkiv court has considered and rejected a lawsuit from the Kazakh side.
Initially, Kazakhstan was due to receive the new An-74T-200 airplane in the fall of 2015, but the delivery date was postponed to November 2016. However, it later turned out that the aircraft will also not be delivered by that date.
This is because several of the components for the airplane were supplied to the Kharkiv Aviation Plant by Russian companies, but cooperation with them has now been forbidden. As a result, the Ukrainian company has declared a force majeure.
As reported, the Kharkiv Aviation Plant is part of Ukraine’s Ukroboronprom state defense concern.
