Malaysian visit to Khabarovsk leads to expectation of orders for Mi-171 and Su-39

Published: 8/31/1999

Mahathir Mohamad, Malaysian Prime Minister, has paid a three day visit to Khabarovsk, at the invitation of Khabarovsk Governor, Viktor Ishayev, to witness first hand a demonstration of civilian helicopters Mi-171, the export version of the Mi1-8AMT equipped with western avionics and Sukhoi fighter aircraft, produced in the region at Ulan-Ude. This is the latest in a series of cooperative moves between Malaysia and Khabarovsk, which began when Rimbunan Khidzhau, a large Malaysian timber company, won a tender for logging in two areas of the Russian Far Eastern region. The company has so far invested $23m in the region's economy. Rimbunan Khidzhau first invited Ishayev to Malaysia, where he met the Prime Minister, who expressed an interest in Khabarovsk. Within a year, an international exhibition of weapons was held in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur. A number of Russian military enterprises exhibited their weapons, including the Sukhoi fighter jets, produced at the KnAAPO factory in Komsomolsk-on-Amur. In November 1998, when Mohamad and Ishayev met again at an international forum in Kuala Lumpur, Ishayev presented Mohamad with a model of a Su-30MK and invited him to Khabarovsk to inspect the real thing. Reports suggest that, during the visit, Malaysia expressed interest in the acquisition of 40 Mi-171 helicopters for its state airline, amounting to an estimated value of $200m, with the further possibility of a joint venture to assemble the aircraft. The Malaysian Air Force is also reported to be interested in the Su-39/Su-25TM all-weather anti tank aircraft produced at Ulan-Ude and to have short listed it for its ground attack at a flyaway price in the region of $8.3 million. According to sources within the Foreign Ministry, the Malaysian Prime Minister's visit to Khabarovsk without going to Moscow raised no official eyebrows and was coordinated with the Kremlin, with a view to promoting “commercial diplomacy”.

Article ID: 805