Editor’s Note: This feature separates Ukraine’s friends from its enemies. The Order of Yaroslav the Wise has been given since 1995 for distinguished service to the nation. It is named after the Kyivan Rus leader from 1019-1054, when the medieval empire reached its zenith. The Order of Lenin was the highest decoration bestowed by the Soviet Union, whose demise Russian President Vladimir Putin mourns. It is named after Vladimir Lenin, whose corpse still rots on the Kremlin’s Red Square, more than 100 years after the October Revolution he led.
Ukraine’s Friend of the Week: Temel Kotil, CEO of Turkish Aerospace Industries
According to the latest estimates by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Ukraine has been the world’s 12th biggest arms exporter in recent years.
Not bad for a country at war. But this represents less than 1% of the global weapons market.
Our struggling defense industry needs more contracts, clients and investment. In this country, each and every foreign arms deal is so highly sought after that it becomes breaking news every time.
It looks like another juicy deal is coming our way now.
On March 14, Temel Kotil, the director general of Turkish Aerospace Industries said that his company intends to procure scores of aircraft engines from Ukraine in the nearest future.
Turkey is designing its own heavy attack helicopter type T929 ATAK-II, whose maiden flight is expected in 2023.
The future fleet of 11-ton vehicles needs 2,500-horsepower engines — and Ukraine is being considered as the project’s exclusive supplier. It is not clear yet how many engines the Turks would need to buy, but judging from early reports, we can talk about a multimillion dollar contract.
It is almost certain that this deal is going to be proposed to Motor Sich, one of the world’s greatest aircraft engine manufacturers that is now at the ground zero of a scandal around its pending nationalization to prevent it from being purchased by China.
In the coming years, the Sich is going to be in huge need of new contracts and revenue.
We strongly encourage all of Ukraine’s international partners to come and load our engineers with jobs. Our defense production, especially our aircraft engine manufacturing industry, has a lot to offer, with its highly advanced technology and relatively cheap prices, a combination that would be hard to find elsewhere in the world.
So as a token of appreciation and encouragement, the Kyiv Post declares Temel Kotil of Turkish Aerospace Industries as our nation’s friend of the week.
Let’s hope we’re going to see this multi-million deal with Motor Sich signed and sealed before too long.
Ukraine’s Foe of the Week — Sebastian Kurz, the Federal Chancellor of Austria
It’s kind of sad to call a person who became his country’s head of government at the age of 31 our foe, but Chancellor Sebastian Kurz left us no choice.
This week, Austrian media busted him coming home from Israel on a private jet owned by Avcon Jet AG, a company related to Dmytro Firtash, the exiled Ukrainian oligarch wanted by the United States on charges of massive bribery.
Kurz’s office was quick to reply that it had no clue, did not care who the owner was and that it was standard practice to hire jets from third-party companies for the chancellor’s foreign trips.
Many considered this a pretty weak explanation and not without reason.
This latest mini-scandal is yet another indication of how good life is for the notorious oligarch Firtash in Austria. He’s been enjoying safe haven in the European country since 2014. The U.S. has spent years trying to persuade the Austrian government to give up Firtash to make him face justice on American soil.
The years of extradition requests have not succeeded. The corrupt tycoon has made a lot of powerful friends in Austria’s high places. He lives in a luxurious villa owned by one of the biggest sponsors of the ruling Austrian People’s Party.
The country’s former justice minister Dieter Bomdorfer is now working as his lawyer. Firtash himself often uses the jet he loaned to Kurz in his trips across Europe.
Seeing how many top-level Austrian politicians are on an intimate footing with Firtash, it comes as no surprise that Vienna makes it so hard for U.S. justice to drag him into the courtroom.
This unholy alliance between the notorious bribe-monger and a European government that endorses the rule of law is beyond all acceptable limits.
Next time Kurz brings up corruption in Ukraine or elsewhere, we’re going to have a lot to ask of him.
