Russian leasing group Ilyushin Finance Company (IFC) appears willing to lift its threat to cancel orders for Bombardier’s delayed CSeries airliner. Following a trip to visit Bombardier in Canada early this month, IFC general manager Alexander Roubtsov told AIN that he hopes to salvage the deal for 39 CS300s with further meetings to be held this week at the Paris Air Show.

Roubtsov indicated that newly appointed Bombardier Commercial Aircraft CEO Fred Cromer could be the right person to get CSeries on track after a string of technical problems that has shaken the market’s confidence in the program. He said Cromer’s background with leasing group ILFC and Continental Airlines means he is more in tune with the customer’s perspective. “Our hope is that his team will manage to get Bombardier’s passenger aircraft business through current difficulties to success,” he commented.

But the question of financing IFC’s CSeries purchase continues to be a thorny issue, with the leasing company now barred from export credit support through Export Development Canada after the Canadian government imposed sanctions in retaliation for Russia’s annexation of Crimea and alleged military support for separatists who have seized parts of eastern Ukraine.

As a result, IFC, which is also having to contend with a devalued ruble, has turned to Chinese banks as an alternative source of funding, albeit at higher rates of interest than have been available to it in the West. “I cannot say their offers delighted us,” said Roubtsov. “But at least we have the chance to use Chinese funding for this and other procurements.”

Meanwhile, despite the mounting hostility between their respective countries, IFC and Ukrainian airframer Antonov are cooperating over plans to support deliveries of the An-158 regional jet to Cubana, which at the 2011 Paris Air Show placed a $300 million contract for 10 of the 99-seaters, the sixth of which is to be delivered later this month.

The two companies have worked together to maintain production of the An-148 and An-158, despite severe difficulties such as landing gear supplier YuzhMash, based in Dnepropetrovsk close to the ongoing conflict, being unable to complete deliveries. Arrangements were made for Russia’s Gydromash to quickly step in to supply the equipment.

IFC has also expressed an interest in investing in China’s Avic MA-700 twin turboprop. The leasing group has also paid close attention to the joint plans by United Aircraft Corp. and Comac to develop a new generation widebody. It also has been a prominent backer of UAC’s MC-21 airliner.

Anticipating a possible lifting of international sanctions against Iran, IFC plans to resume active work with that country’s carriers. “Our contracts with Iranian colleagues never got stopped or halted,” said Roubtsov. “Unfortunately, there have been no deliveries to this country because of the sanctions. Once they are gone, we will offer the Iranians all we can give them, including the Superjet, MC-21, Tupolev and Ilyushin airplanes.”