The Moscow Court of Arbitration has rejected Aeroflot's claim against Sukhoi Civil Aircraft (Zhukovsky) to recover RUB2.1 billion (USD35.5 million) over unpaid government subsidies, reports Russian news agency TASS.
The case relates back to 2005 when Aeroflot (SU, Moscow Sheremetyevo) signed an agreement to lease ten SSJ 100/95s. According to Aeroflot, that deal was to be paid in part by government subsidies which, if they didn't materialise, would be paid by Sukhoi. These funds were never paid, and Aeroflot resorted to the courts to recover them from the manufacturer.
The court agreed with Sukhoi that the terms of the agreement had expired. Additionally, the airline had not taken any steps to recover the funds from the government.
Despite the dispute, Aeroflot has signed a firm commitment with VEB-Leasing for the lease of twenty additional SSJ-100-95s, announced this week at the MAKS 2017 Air Show at Zhukovsky.
