"Schemes" journalists discovered that the Ukrainian strategic enterprise "Motor Sich" had been conducting trade for years with Iranian companies against which sanctions were imposed by the West and the United States, and later by the NSDC.
Documentary evidence of such cooperation was found by law enforcement officers in the office of the long-term president of "Motor Sich" Vyacheslav Bohuslaev. Itʼs about such companies:
- Design and Manufacturing of Aeroengines (abbreviated: DAMA); another name of the same company — Turbine Engine Manufacturing Industries (TEM);
- Iran Aircraft Industries (IACI);
- Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industrial Company (HESA).
"Schemes" analyzed copies of these documents, including business correspondence, minutes of meetings, contracts and invoices. Therefore, they established that the "Motor Sich" company sold dual-use goods to Iran. In particular, AI-9 and TV3-117 aircraft engines. Such models are installed both on small transport planes and on military helicopters, in particular the Ka-52 type, which Russia uses in the war against Ukraine.
Among these business partners from Iran, there are even enterprises related to the state military industry of Iran and involved in the development of the Shahed-171 and Shahed-136, with which the Russian army is currently shelling Ukrainian cities en masse.
During the analysis of the documents, "Schemes" discovered another Iranian company with which "Motor Sich" traded, but against which no sanctions have yet been imposed — neither in Ukraine nor abroad. Although it employs the same people who moved from sanctioned Iranian enterprises. It is about New Aviation Technology and System (NATS).
Journalists found a translated letter in which the head of NATS, addressing Bohuslaev, writes: "I worked with you for 7 years at the TEM [Turbine Engine Manufacturing or Design and Manufacturing of Aeroengines] company and was the director of the engine project. [...] Now I am retired, I have my own company, and one of the areas of my activity is cooperation with "Motor Sich".
The letter also states: “I am aware of the problems in cooperation with Iran. I have reviewed all cases. It seems that there is an option for cooperation, I propose to cooperate through your partner firm in Moscow and my partner company in Russia. [For example, one of them is the company TechPromService].”
That is, in fact, these are the same business partners from Iran with connections in Russia, with whom the Ukrainian company traded. Only the name of the company has changed.
- On October 22, 2022, the SBU detained the former president of “Motor Sich” Vyacheslav Bohuslaev. He is suspected of treason. According to the investigation, he and the head of the department of foreign economic activity supplied Russia with aircraft engines for combat helicopters — even after the full-scale invasion. Boguslaev is currently in a pre-trial detention center.
- On November 4, the SBU seized the property of Bohuslaev and the head of the companyʼs foreign economic activity department worth almost a billion hryvnias.
- On November 30, the Ministry of Defense appointed the new management of the aviation enterprise "Motor Sich". Oleksiy Nikiforov became the general director.