Since the beginning of Russia’s massive invasion of Ukraine, the French company PGA has received between four and five million euros for servicing seven aircraft in Russia.
Russia continues to successfully avoid Western sanctions and not all companies leave the market of the aggressor country. It turned out that the French company PGA (“a subsidiary” of American Astronics), after the start of the full-scale invasion of Russian troops in Ukraine, continued to service the planes of high-ranking Russian officials.
Road to Armenia
PGA, based in Chateauroux in the Indre department, deals in avionics – the electronic systems installed in an aircraft. According to newspaper sources, since the beginning of the war, PGA has received from four to five million euros for servicing seven aircraft in Russia (from 300 thousand to one and a half million euros per contract), the French newspaper reported that Le Parisien, citing a former top manager of the company.
We are talking about the aircraft of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, Deputy Head of the Security Council Dmitry Medvedev, and two FSB airliners.
The company shipped the equipment to Moscow via Armenia, monitored the deliveries remotely, and made payments via Dubai, the source said. According to him, the delivery was carried out secretly in containers along with other equipment.
Business continues
In December 2023, the Russian authorities, as the interlocutor of the publication said, ordered electronic equipment worth one million euros for Vladimir Putin’s plane, deliveries are scheduled for 2024. As Le Parisien said, the source of the publication knows this because he remains aware of the company’s affairs thanks to his connections in the professional environment.
It is not clear what systems the PGA provided for the Russian aircraft. The company’s website says it provides in-flight communications, entertainment, cabin control and lighting systems. The website also says that the company’s customer support offices are located in France, USA and Russia. According to the interlocutor of Le Parisien, the representative office of the company in Moscow was opened in 2016.
The source of the publication says that in recent days several senior employees have left PGA, which, according to him, may indicate that the French authorities have become interested in the company’s business in Russia.
The PGA did not respond to reporters’ requests.
France is an anti-leader
After the beginning of the mass invasion of Ukraine, the French business showed itself as one of the most loyal to Russia. Companies such as Auchan, Leroy Merlin, Danone, Lactalis, Bonduelle, Lacoste, L’Oreal, L’occitane, Yves Rocher, Clarins, Sanofi, Servier Laboratories, Ipsen, BlaBlaCar, FM Logistic and many others continue to work there.
In March 2022, Leroy Merlin’s central office removed access to the Facebook page from Leroy Merlin Ukraine employees. The day before, they bombarded the main company with petitions asking to exit the Russian market. Later, the Ukrainian office was cut off from corporate communications.
“There is no reason to stop being useful to Russians who need to repair, insulate, secure… their homes,” Philipp Zimmermann, CEO of the Adeo group of companies, which manages Leroy Merlin , wrote in a letter to his colleagues in Ukraine. .
On March 21, 2022, one of the Ukrainian Leroy Merlin stores was partially destroyed in a targeted Russian missile attack on the Retroville shopping center, located in one of the residential areas of Kyiv. Eight people died as a result of the attack.
The influential French weekly L’Express published an investigation on February 20, 2024, questioning the implementation of international sanctions against Russia by the French commercial giant Leroy Merlin.
The results of the investigation indicate the “existence of opaque schemes, imitation of termination of activities and contacts with the Russian state” of the retailer, where Russia for many years was “a real Eldorado. “
L’Express said that after the final exit of the Volkswagen automaker from the Russian market last year, Leroy Merlin will become the largest foreign company in Russia in 2023. Its staff reaches 45 thousand people, it has almost 115 shop.
Russia has become a very profitable market for the company. It accounts for almost a quarter of the turnover of Adeo, the parent company of Leroy Merlin.
In March 2023, the company announced that it “hands over operational control of Leroy Merlin Russia to local management” in order to “maintain the jobs of 45 thousand employees and continue the company’s activities for the benefit of residents.”
But an analysis of subsequent events makes it possible to say that “transfer of operational control” does not necessarily mean a sale. That “local management” is the head of the branch of Leroy Merlin East, the Frenchman Laurent Defassio, who rose all the way up the career ladder within Adeo.
Weakest industry
The aviation industry of the Russian Federation is one of the most vulnerable to sanctions, so the help of the French company to the aggressor here is especially important. For almost two years now, the supply of spare parts for aircraft has been banned in Russia. In addition, about 500 aircraft – almost half of the Russian fleet – cannot fly out of Russian airspace. This is due to foreign lessors demanding that the aircraft be returned to them.
The necessary spare parts are obtained in different ways: by smuggling or by scrapping old aircraft. But this, experts say, is not enough to fully meet the demand for spare parts and thus prevent major plane crashes.
In December 2023, there were at least four emergency situations on airliners in Russia. One of the engines of Aeroflot’s Airbus A321 failed, and a short circuit and fire occurred in the cabin of a Boeing 777 of the same airline.
Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.