Montreal-based aircraft manufacturer Bombardier has become the second major Canadian company to be exempted from federal government sanctions on Russian titanium.
Thanks to this decision, Bombardier, together with its European partner Airbus, will be able to continue using titanium-containing parts produced by Russia’s VSMPO-AVISMA company, headquartered in Verkhnyaya Salda.
In a conference call with journalists during Bombardier’s release of its quarterly balance sheet, CEO Eric Martel announced the waiver. Martel said that Bombardier does not directly purchase Russian titanium, but some of its suppliers use it, so the company needs a sanctions waiver from the federal government.
The decision feeds the Russian war machine
The Ukrainian Ambassador, on the other hand, criticised Canada for Airbus’ waiver of sanctions for the critical Russian mine. Yuliya Kovaliv said that allowing the company to continue to use Russian titanium when there are other suppliers elsewhere in the world serves to feed the Kremlin’s war machine.
Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly said the main reason for granting this waiver was to protect jobs in Canada.
Airbus employs more than 4,000 people in Canada at two production sites in Ontario and Quebec. Bombardier employs approximately 16,000 workers in North America.
