William Taylor, the outgoing top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine, has said that “serious American” companies are studying the possible purchase of Motor Sich, one of the world’s top makers of aircraft engines.
The United States, which has provided Ukraine with more than $1.5 billion in military aid over the past five years, has lobbied against the possible sale of the strategic company and its advanced technology to China.
Motor Sich is privately owned by its chief executive, Vyacheslav Bohuslayev. The 81-year-old said he agreed to sell the bulk of his shares to Chinese companies because they were willing to invest the hundreds of millions of dollars necessary to keep the aging plant in Zaporizhzhya running and its thousands of workers employed.
However, the deal has yet to receive Ukrainian government approval.