Media: Ukrainian defense company supplying parts to Russian army
The Ukrainian company Motor Sich, whose president was awarded Ukraine’s highest national title, the Hero of Ukraine, MP and four-time member of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council Vyacheslav Boguslayev, is still supplying components for Russian military engines, according to a study by journalists at Bihus.Info.
The authors of the study draw attention to the fact that Boguslayev and Pietr Kononenko, director of Motor Sich’s offices in Moscow, own a number of companies in Russia: Borisfen, Elk Island, TsIAM, Aviaremont-MS, VKMS and VK-MS, which are still operating, despite Russia’s military aggression and occupation of Crimea.
Borisfen provides services to Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB). According to the Russian government procurements website, the company received $3.5 million between 2015 and 2017 for extending the lifespan of AI-9V aircraft engines. The same company also services engines for the Crimean company Universal-Avia, which was “nationalized” by Russia after the occupation of the peninsula. Despite the sanctions, Borisfen has continued to work with Universal-Avia, and has received 5 million rubles (around $78,000) from it.
The company in question has also received several government contracts from the Russian Special Aerial Unit, which provides transport services to senior military officials and intelligence directors, as well as to President Vladimir Putin.
The journalists have also determined that between 2015 and 2016, VKMS, another Russian company belonging to Boguslaev, delivered TVZ-117 engine components produced by Motor Sich to Russia’s 218th aircraft repair plant, despite the ban imposed by Ukraine’s fifth president, Petro Poroshenko.
Notably, Boguslayev and Motor Sich representatives said that Ukrainian components would be installed exclusively on the power units of Russian civilian aircraft, but in fact they were received by the military office of Russia’s defense department.
In 2018, Motor Sich began to supply a large number of engine components to Bosnia and Herzegovina, to the newly founded company D.O.O Inzeniring BN, which has in turn delivered consignments with similar components for Russian helicopters.
In spite of all this, Boguslayev’s company continues to operate in the Ukrainian territory not under Kyiv’s control. In 2016, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) initiated a criminal case against several members of Motor Sich for financing terrorism. At the time, the enterprise was reported to have paid the ruble equivalent of $500,000 to the terrorists.
Boguslayev is currently planning to run in Ukraine’s snap parliamentary elections. He is running as a self-nominated candidate from majority district No. 77 in Zaporizhia, even though in the last 5 years he has only attended parliament on 45 occasions.