Breaking news
U.S. lifts sanctions against Rosoboronexport for Afghanistan's Mi-17 helicopters support.
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World Defense & Security News - Russia & United States
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U.S. lifts sanctions against Rosoboronexport for Afghanistan's Mi-17 helicopters support
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The United States lifted the sanctions against Russian arms exporter Rosoboronexport’s contracts for servicing the Mil Mi-17 (NATO reporting name: Hip) helicopters in Afghanistan, according to Thomas Countryman, US Assistant Secretary of State for International Security and Nonproliferation. US governmental weekly Federal Register has published Mr. Countryman-signed document to that effect on Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2015.
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 An Afghan Air Force Mi-17V-5 multirole helicopter |
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The document notes that the US sanctions slapped on Rosoboronexport on September 2, 2015 have been lifted from the Russian company’s and its subsidiaries’ US-placed contracts "for spare parts, repair, official checkup and maintenance of the Mi-17 helicopters designed for assisting the Afghan security forces or for the global flight on terror and violent extremism." The decision to ease the sanctions on Rosoboronexport in terms of the Afghan Mi-17 maintenance contracts will have been in force for two years and may be extended, if the US secretary of state deems this necessary.
The United States introduced its sanctions against Rosoboronexport and several other Russian companies on September 2 this year under its domestic Iran, North Korea and Syria Nonproliferation Act. At the time, several other firms were hit by the sanctions too, these being the Instrument Design Bureau (KBP) in Tula, Novosibirsk-based night vision device and image intensifier manufacturer Katod, NPO Mashinostroyeniya in Reutov (Moscow Region) and airframer MiG in Moscow. Under an agreement with the US Department of Defense, Russia has been supplying the Afghan National Army and security services with Mi-17V-5 helicopters for the past five years. The primary agreement was signed in 2011, and several supplementary contracts have followed since then. The agreement stipulated for the delivery of 63 Russian-built helicopters worth a total of $1.33 billion to Afghanistan. |
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