RN-Aircraft, a subsidiary of Russian government-owned oil company Rosneft, signed a contract this week with AgustaWestland for 10 AW189s, to be delivered over the next two years. The order is the result of a framework agreement signed in December between the two companies that could see Rosneft take up to 160 AgustaWestland helicopters.

The parties also reached an agreement for the progressive restructuring of HeliVert, currently a 50-50 Finmeccanica-AgustaWestland and Russian Helicopters joint venture, to accommodate participation by Rosneft. Under the new planned structure, Rosneft and Russian Helicopters would each have 30 percent of the shares, with Finmeccanica-AgustaWestland holding the remaining 40 percent.

“With Rosneft joining HeliVert, Finmeccanica will strengthen industrial collaboration with its Russian partners and its commercial presence, by introducing a new product into the Russian market, which has already proved extremely successful globally,” Finmeccanica said.