Photo: superjetinternational.com
< p>Russian State Aerospace Company “United Aircraft Corporation” (UAC) announced the sale of its stake in the Sukhoi Superjet 100 program to UAE-based investment company Markab Capital.
In early March, the Italian company Superjet International announced that the United Aircraft Corporation was withdrawing from the Sukhoi Superjet 100 program by selling its stake to Markab Capital.
According to the statement, Markab Capital has acquired a 49% stake in the Russian company. As a result, UAC will effectively withdraw from the Superjet program, ending its participation in the project, which was created in 2007. This also appears to be the end of the Russian project to assemble the new Superjet SS-100, also known as the SSJ-NEW.
At the beginning, Superjet International was an Italian company with two shareholders: Sukhoi; with 51% of the shares and the Italian aerospace company Leonardo with 49%. In 2016, Leonardo minimized its participation in the project.
As part of the sanctions against Russia, the Financial Guard froze the Italian assets of Superjet International, related to 90% of the shares owned at that time by the United Aircraft Corporation. Their value is estimated at approximately $159.2 million.
After the sale of the stake to the United Aircraft Corporation, the ownership of the Sukhoi Superjet 100 project will look like this:
Markab Capital will own 49% of the shares;< /p>
Italian law firm Studio Guidotti International will own 41% of the shares,
Leonardo — 10% share.
The new shareholders intend to invest in the development of the project, restarting the Superjet 100 and focusing on the UAE and Indian markets. Markab Capital is investing approximately US$202.4 million to “support the development of state-of-the-art aircraft configurations, the construction of a new SJI subsidiary in the United Arab Emirates, and the continuous improvement of the aircraft in a competitive environment.”
Superjet International CEO Camillo Perfido said that “this agreement is of great importance to our company, as the termination of industrial and commercial relations with UAC will no longer be burdened with restrictions arising from the sanctions rules established by the European Union.”
< p>According to Superjet International forecasts, at least 240 aircraft in various modifications will be sold: passenger, business jets and cargo. Markab Capital will also open a new branch in the UAE. It will be set up at Al Ain International Airport and will become a production facility for the Superjet 100 in its basic version.
With this project, the UAE wants to improve its national aviation industry, given that this Middle Eastern country does not yet have a sufficiently developed industrial aviation complex.
Meanwhile, the headquarters in Venice will strategically manage the program, while retaining responsibility for marketing and sales, installation of aircraft options, pilot and crew training, final flight testing, deliveries and customer support.
According to specialized media, a total of 327 aircraft in several versions were built as part of the Sukhoi Superjet program.
SSJ-100B — the most successful aircraft of the family. A total of 103 aircraft were delivered. As of March 2023, 83 SSJ-100B aircraft are in operation, including 55 operated by Rossiya Airlines. and ten at Azimuth. Sukhoi's sole operator in the Americas was Interjet — an airline that, at its peak, had 22 SSJ-100s before ceasing operations in December 2020.
The United Aircraft Corporation delivered six Sukhoi Superjet business variants. The Royal Thai Air Force has three, while the Kazakh Air Force, Rusjet and Severstal Airlines have three. one by one. Finally, 56 Sukhoi Superjet Long Range aircraft have been delivered, of which 43 are currently in service. Yamal Airlines has 11 operational Sukhoi, followed by Red Wings Airlines with ten aircraft and Azimuth with eight.
