• RN-Aircraft plans to buy additional twenty AgustaWestland AW189 helicopters which will follow the contract for ten aircraft signed in July 2015 
• These latest helicopters are part of the framework agreement signed in December 2014 with the Russian operator Rosneft who plans to order up to 160 units by 2025.
• With agreements for over 150 units including firm orders, options and framework contracts with various customers, the AW189 is the bestselling ‘super medium’ category helicopter in the market ​

Leonardo-Finmeccanica, Russian Helicopters and Rosneft have announced the signing of an agreement for the future sale of additional twenty AgustaWestland AW189 commercial helicopters to RN-Aircraft, a subsidiary of the oil company Rosneft. The new helicopters will be used for transportation purposes.

Aircraft deliveries are expected to start in 2018 with three units to be assembled in Italy and seventeen at the HeliVert joint venture’s plant headquartered in Tomilino, Moscow region. These helicopters will add to the previous order by RN-Aircraft for ten AW189s signed in July 2015. Moreover, as already set out in the framework agreement signed in December 2014 and with the involvement of Russian Helicopters, a subsidiary of Rostec corporation, Rosneft plans to order further helicopters by 2025, for a total of up to 160 units. 

The parties also reached an agreement in 2015 for the progressive restructuring of HeliVert, an originally 50-50 joint venture with Russian Helicopters, which foresaw the participation of Rosneft, worth 30% of the shares. Subsequently, shares in HeliVert will be redistributed as follows: 40% to Leonardo Helicopters, 30% to Russian Helicopters, 30% to Rosneft. With Rosneft joining HeliVert, Finmeccanica aims at strengthening its industrial collaboration with its Russian partners and its commercial presence, by introducing a new product into the Russian market, which has already proven extremely successful globally.