Sanctions and debts have left the first Portuguese private helicopter company, Heliportugal, without helicopter parts from Russia.
The Moscow Arbitration Court published a decision on a claim by the Russian Helicopter Service Company, JSC, against the Portuguese company, Heliportugal S.A., which is a private helicopter operating company established in 1982 and owned by shareholders of the United Helicopter Services Group, which operates in Portugal, Brazil, Romania, Algeria, and Iran.
Heliport’s fleet includes several types of helicopters, including the Ka-32A11BC, produced in Russia, which can carry up to 13 passengers or four tons of cargo.
In 2013, the Helicopter Service Company and Helipotugal signed a contract to overhaul three sets of rotor columns (the mechanism that connects the helicopter’s rotors) for the Ka-22A13BC for 600 thousand euros.
According to court documents, Heliportugal failed to pay for the repairs in full volume, leaving a debt of 200,000 euros.
From 2014 to 2022, the companies argued, when Heliport reported that it was unable to make the payment due to sanctions imposed by the United States and European Union.
The fact that JSC VSK was a subsidiary of JSC Russian Helicopters, which in turn was a subsidiary of State Corporation Rostec, meant that the company had been sanctioned.
To resolve the dispute, Helicopter Service appealed to Moscow Arbitration. The court ruled that Helicopter should recover from Heli by foreclosing on two columns of Ka-32A11BC rotor blades.
