Saturday 14th of July, Airbus announced that their division Airbus Helicopters and the Ukrainian Ministry of Interior agreed to the sale of 55 helicopters.
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The purchase of the 55 helicopters by Ukraine will be used to modernize its civil helicopter fleet, specifically for its search and rescue, public services and emergency medical service missions in the country. The first helicopters are expected to be delivered by the end of 2018. The contract also includes training and a local maintenance centre. This alone is worth some 160 million euros out of the 555 million euros the transaction will cost.
Part of the helicopters in question are owned by French banks and have been sold to Ukraine after an Intergovernmental Agreement was signed between France and Ukraine a month earlier, on June 8th. The purchase has been financed at 85% by a loan from the French Treasure and French banks. The Ukrainian Ministry of Interior will be covering the 15% remaining. The total cost is of 555 million euros.
This transaction comes after Airbus managed to sell 20 military helicopters to Hungary at the end of June.
For those interested, here’s a breakdown of the helicopters sold to Ukraine:
- 21 repurposed H225
- 10 brand new H145
- 24 H125
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