Ukraine intends to take the aerospace company Motor Sich back into state ownership in the near future because of its strategic importance to national security, top security official Oleksiy Danilov said in a briefing on Thursday.
Motor Sich was privatized two decades ago and the United States and China have tussled over its fate, posing a dilemma for Ukraine which relies on Washington as its biggest military aid donor but is seeking to forge deeper commercial ties with Beijing.
“А decision has been made according to which the Motor Sich enterprise will be returned to the Ukrainian people, will be returned to the ownership of the Ukrainian state in a legal, constitutional way,” said Danilov, secretary of Ukraine’s Security and Defence Council.
He noted that all actions regarding the enterprise will take place in accordance with the current legislation. Danilov said that the state would compensate where private owners had invested any capital in Motor Sich.
It's worth noting that in January, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy signed a decreeimposing sanctions on Chinese aviation firm Skyrizon, which has sought to acquire control of Motor Sich by buying stakes from its Ukrainian owners.