Rosneft to buy up to 160 AW189 helicopters

Rosneft, Rostec Corporation and Italian group Finmeccanica signed trilateral agreement for strategic partnership. The document was signed by the Head of Rosneft Igor Sechin, Rostec Corporation CEO Sergey Chemezov and the Head of Finmecanica group Mauro Moretti on December 29, 2014.

As part of the signed document the parties will establish a Joint Venture (JV) of the Russian Helicopters holding and AgustaWestland (subsidiaries of Rostec and Finmeccanica). The JV will be based on the HeliVert plant situated in the Moscow Region. Rosneft will become a new partner of the Russian-Italian JV. It is planned to launch production of the medium helicopters AW189.

Rosneft will form a bid and become the first customer for the AW189 helicopters. According to the press release, HeliVert is envisaged to sell and deliver up to 160 helicopters to Rosneft by 2025. In compliance with the reached agreements, the assembly, supplies, after-sales service and training of AW189 helicopters will be carried out. As part of the project, localization of the AW189 production is planned to be implemented in stages up to 2025.

Commenting on the signing Rosneft Head Igor Sechin said: “Offshore projects development is a strategic priority for Rosneft. It is impossible to accomplish this mission without state-of-the-art arctic and marine equipment, oil and gas rigs, modern aeronautical engineering. We are glad to reach these agreements, thanks to which strategic cooperation in such an important area is being created.”

Sergey Chemezov said: “The production of AW189 in Russia will create large opportunities for the continuation of our successful cooperation with our Italian partners – Finmeccanica-AgustaWestland. The project will be implemented on the basis of an exclusive license agreement, which gives HeliVert the right to produce such helicopters, their distribution in Russia and the CIS. The participation of the leader of the Russian oil industry, Rosneft, in our project can give a new boost to the development of the joint venture and production expansion.”

AW189 helicopter

Utility helicopter AW189 produced by AgustaWestland is referred to super medium category with maximal takeoff mass of 8.3 tonnes. The helicopter is optimized for offshore transport and search and rescue missions. It is also used for transportation carriage, passenger transportation and other shipping operations. The standard cabin of AW189 is designed for transportation of 16 people. The maximal cruise speed is 287 km per hour, maximal flying range (with additional tanks) is 600 nautical miles (1111 km).

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