Russian authorities have delayed the Bombardier-Rostekhnologii (Rostec) joint venture that intended to set up a Q400 NextGen final assembly line in Russia, due to political interference and problems with negotiations.
“We have not reached an agreement on several questions, including assembly localization and aircraft final price,” Rostec said in a statement. “That is the reason why Rostec has postponed the final decision on the project.”
Sources within Russia’s Bombardier office stated that although new terms have not yet been defined, both sides expect to establish the assembly line in 2015.
Bombardier and Rostec signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the Q400 assembly line in August 2013, which was originally planned to be built in the Ulyanovsk region during 2014.
In May, Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov said the plant construction had not begun. At the time, Manturov reportedly said the problem was not Bombardier, but “various obscure statements” made by Canadian authorities on the imposition of sanctions that motivated the Russian government to reconsider the project.