OREANDA-NEWS. Finmeccanica has signed a contract for the sale of ten AW189  commercial helicopters to RN-Aircraft, a subsidiary of the oil company Rosneft. The contract, valued at around 160 million euro, foresees that the new helicopters will be used for transportation purposes.

Delivery of the aircraft is expected between 2015 and 2017. Moreover, as already set out in the framework agreement signed in December 2014 and with the involvement of Russian Helicopters, a subsidiary of Rostec corporation, Rosneft plans to order further helicopters by 2025, for a total of up to 160 units.
 
The parties also reached an agreement for the progressive restructuring of HeliVert, a 50-50 Finmeccanica-AgustaWestland and Russian Helicopters joint venture, which foresees  the future participation of Rosneft, worth 30% of the shares. Subsequently, shares in HeliVert will be redistributed as follows: 40% to Finmeccanica-AgustaWestland, 30% to Russian Helicopters, 30% to Rosneft.

With Rosneft joining HeliVert, Finmeccanica will strengthen its industrial collaboration with its Russian partners and its commercial presence, by introducing a new product into the Russian market, which has already proven extremely successful globally.

With more than 150 helicopters already sold to customers worldwide, the 8.3/8.6 tonne AW189 is the most successful commercial helicopter in the new so-called ‘super medium’ category and is able to carry up to 19 passengers. Developed to respond the growing market demand for a modern multirole helicopter with large capacity and long range capability, the AW189 meets the latest and most stringent certification and safety standards.