In March 2021, the Ukrainian government suddenly nationalized Madagascar on the grounds of "national security", unilaterally ruptured the cooperation agreement with Chinese enterprises, refused to pay 36.1 billion yuan in defaults.

Now that the aviation development giant has suffered heavy losses in the war, it has begun to appeal to China for help. What happened behind this? Will China still lend a helping hand this time?

Soviet legacy is in trouble, China gives timely assistance

The name Madassic is not simple in the aviation circle. This established company was established in 1907. It was a leader in the field of aeroengines during the Soviet era. The An-124 large transport aircraft and the Mi-26 heavy helicopter use its power plant. At that time, Madsic was quite influential in the aviation scrunch, and he held a lot of hard skills in his hands.

But after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Ukrainian economy crashed, and Madrasic also suffered crashes. After 2014, the days of the once "shipyard giant" were quite difficult. Order less and less, factories could not be opened, labor wages could not be released quickly, and the eyes should be planted on the chain of funds.

At this juncture, Chinese companies came to the door. At that time, China was really trying to make a breakthrough in the field of aero-engines. Whether it is the engine of a civil passenger aircraft or the power system of a military helicopter, more technology accumulation is needed. The technologies in Motor Sich's hands were just what China urgently needed at that time; And China can help solve the lack of money in Motor Xiqi. Isn't this a proper "win-win" situation?

Since 2016, the two sides have sat down to talk about cooperation, and the chat was very hot at the beginning. Chinese companies have increased their shareholding ratio step by step. By 2019, their shareholding has exceeded 50%, basically taking more than half of Motor Sich's "right to speak".

Not only that, but China has also shown sincerity and promised to invest US $250 million to help Motor Sich conduct research and development, which can not only upgrade old technologies, but also develop new products. By the way, it can also help Ukrainian jobs. At that time, everyone felt that this would definitely be done. China used technology and Ukraine to solve the dilemma, and everyone was happy.

This money was a lifeblood for Madrasic at the time, not only solving the urgency, but also restarting the stalled production line.

Suddenly turning his face and refusing to pay sky-high liquidated damages

But who could have imagined that in March 2021, the Ukrainian government suddenly jumped out, saying that Madrasic was concerned with "national security", and directly ordered the company to be nationalized!

What's even more irritating is that it was clearly stated in the original cooperation agreement that if either party breached the contract, it would have to pay 36.1 billion yuan in liquidated damages. As a result, the Ukrainian side did not even mention it and directly lost the money.

Isn't this "national security" reason a bit far-fetched? When Chinese companies acquired, why didn't the Ukrainian government talk about national security? After investing money, negotiating conditions, and even starting to push forward the research and development plan, suddenly using this as an excuse, isn't this obviously "turning your face against others"?

Later, everyone slowly figured out that there were actually many external forces stirring up this. The United States and NATO have never wanted China to acquire core aviation technology, so they have continued to put pressure on Ukraine, saying that "cooperation with China will threaten European security." At that time, the Ukrainian government, bent on pleasing the West, actually smashed the "win-win cooperation" delivered to its door and left Chinese companies hanging in place.

In those years, the loss of Chinese enterprises was more than money. For this cooperation, a special technical team was formed, and subsequent production supports were planned, and even domestic aircraft manufacturers had begun to pair up, waiting for the technology of Madagascar to land.

To say the truth, this is someone to meet, the heart has to burn fire. at the time, many technicians involved in cooperation are disappointed, after all, everyone has invested so much energy for this project, the results will be seen, and the result is so confused and abandoned.

When the war reaches my doorstep, I remember how good China is

But only a few years later, Motor Sich came to me again. Since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the factory in Motor Sich has directly become the "hardest hit area". The production base in Zaporizhzhia has been affected by the war many times. Many machinery and equipment have been destroyed, and more than half of the workers have run away, let alone the production of engines. Whether the factory can be preserved has become a question.

At this time, Ukraine realized that the "assistance" previously promised by the West was mostly arms and ammunition, and no one was willing to help Madrasic restore production.

So, the Ukrainian side began to release signals, saying that it hopes to resume cooperation with China, and even suggested that it is willing to "compensate previous regrets".

The current situation in Madagascar is really bad, the original technical team is seriously lost, production equipment is damaged, and even the most basic parts supply is a problem. In this case, those "allies" in the West are hiding far away, and nobody wants to throw money into this bottomless hole.

China considerations and bottom-line principles

To be honest, many people see this news the first reaction is: at the outset, we dug so badly, now it is difficult to think of us, why help?

In recent years, China's navigation technology has indeed improved a lot, turbines-10 and turbines-20 have been in service, but in some specific fields, such as heavy helicopter large-power propulsion engines, Madrasic's technology is still relevant.

If these technologies can be obtained through cooperation, or joint production with it, it will still be helpful for China's aviation industry.But the key is to see if Ukraine has "honesty", previous default, refusal, this is a real thing.

If this time only want China to "transfuse blood", but do not mention the previous loss compensation, nor guarantee the stability of cooperation, then can not eat the second loss. China is not a philanthropist, nor a person of vengeance, but do business to speak the rules, cooperate with sincerity.

Judging from the current situation, China is still relatively cautious about this matter. China has not made a clear statement, and the business community is also waiting and seeing. After all, the lesson last time was too profound, and no one wanted to step in the same pit again. Moreover, after several years of development, China's independent capabilities in the field of aviation development have also been continuously improved, and its dependence on external technology has been greatly reduced.

Preconditions and future directions of cooperation

Will China help Madrasic?

If Ukraine really wants to resume cooperation, there are at least a few things to come up with: first, the compensation scheme for previous losses, not necessarily cash, technology transfer, equipment compensation can be talked about; second, the legal guarantee of long-term cooperation, not allowing external forces to arbitrarily interfere; and finally, the transparent implementation mechanism, ensuring the cooperation agreement can really land.

But the reality is that Ukraine itself is now uncertain, what conditions are there to talk about compensation? and even if the agreement is signed now, who can guarantee that the "national security" code will not come again?

From a longer perspective, this encounter with Madagascar may just give China an opportunity to re-examine the risks of international cooperation.After so many years of development, China's aviation industry is no longer the state of "technology thirst".

Technical cooperation is of course good, and if not, it can continue to move forward with its own strength.This is the reflection of China's manufacturing industry's constant progress.

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