Bombardier’s US$100 billion joint manufacturing venture with Russia's Rostec will be delayed for at least a year, amid the degrading political and economic ties between Russia and Canada over the crisis in Ukraine.
Bombardier and Rostec, a state conglomerate with significant holdings in high-technology industries, agreed in 2013 to build a production facility in the Russian city of Ulyanovsk for the Bombardier’s Dash-8 Q400NG turboprop. Rostec and Bombardier had agreed to start production this year.
A spokesman from Bombardier told Russian media: "We are in negotiations with Rostec and hope to reach an agreement in 2014. But, given the context of what is going on right now, the project's schedule may move to next year."
A Rostec spokesman said the company was still concerned over the viability of launching a Q400 production line in Russia, as the value of the aircraft and the issues of localizing component production had yet to be properly resolved.
Also at issue is the Russian government's renewed interest in restarting production of domestic alternatives to foreign aircraft in response to the sanctions, as Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin stated earlier this week that the government was also looking into the possibility of relaunching production of the Ilyushin Il-114 turboprop.