Moscow, June 20, 2006 – Sukhoi Aviation Holding and Italian Finmeccanica Group, as well as their subsidiaries Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Company (SCAC) and Alenia Aeronautica, signed an Agreement on Strategic Partnership on the Russian Regional Jet (RRJ) Program.
The RRJ program provides for design, development, production, marketing and support of a family of next generation 75-100 seats Regional Jets.
The Agreement develops cooperation framework, outlined by Memorandum of Understanding on Development of Cooperation on the RRJ Program, signed by Russian Federal Agency for Industry, Sukhoi Aviation Holding Company, Finmeccanica Group and Alenia Aeronautica at Moscow International airshow MAKS in August 2005.
The Agreement provides for Alenia Aeronautica to acquire 25% + 1 share of SCAC (subject to government approval) and to participate in financing of not less than 25% of the RRJ Program.
To promote the RRJ’s success in European and American markets the parties agreed to launch a joint venture in Europe that will focus on sales and after-sale support. In addition to that, Alenia Aeronautica will second a team of its experts to SCAC to work in certification, procurement, sales, after-sale support and other business units and will provide advanced materials and systems.
The Agreement is an important step in building up a long-term strategic partnership between the two companies, which are joining intellectual and operational capabilities to create a new value proposition for the market and share profits and risks of the Program. Large scale manufacturing cooperation, stipulated by the Agreement, is supported by Governments of both Russia and Italy.
The fact that a renowned Western strategic partner enters the projects confirms reliability of the aircraft characteristics and the global competitive advantages of the RRJ.
Merge of technical and intellectual potential of Finmeccanica Group/Alenia Aeronautica and Sukhoi promises to be the largest project of Russian-Italian cooperation in Civil Aviation and will be the real step towards single economic and industrial environment between Russia and European Union.
