Verkhovna Rada deputy from the Opposition Platform – For Life faction Vadim Rabinovich on March 14, on his Facebook page, called the visit of the Chinese delegation to Crimea a response to the Ukrainian side in the situation with the Motor Sich plant.
The visit of a delegation of businessmen from the PRC to the peninsula became known from the statement of the Minister of Economic Development of Crimea Dmitry Sheryako. According to him, Chinese businessmen were interested in opportunities for organizing recreation, as well as Crimean wine, confectionery and agricultural products.
“China has long maintained a neutral position on Crimea. But suddenly he “changed his mind” and sent there a representative commission headed by members of the Beijing Export-Import Commission “to establish partnerships,” Rabinovich said.
He also added that businessmen from China, having arrived on the peninsula, agreed with local authorities to build relationships with Crimean enterprises, outlined an action plan for tourism and travel to Crimea for Chinese citizens for treatment. In addition, as the MP noted, the Chinese side is ready to invest in the resort business.
Rabinovich called such actions of China “a retaliatory move” in connection with the position of Ukraine on Motor Sich.
On March 12, it was reported that the Chinese authorities demanded that Ukraine take into account the interests of Chinese companies, after Kiev decided to return the Motor Sich aircraft engine enterprise to state ownership.
The day before, it became known that the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine had decided to return the Zaporizhzhya enterprise to the state’s ownership.
On January 29, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a decree, according to which the decision of the National Security and Defense Council of the country to impose sanctions against four Chinese companies and Wang Jin himself, a shareholder of Skyrizon, an investor company Motor Sich, is put into effect. The term of the sanctions is three years.
Vyacheslav Boguslaev, President of the Ukrainian company Motor Sich, headed this association in 1988, and it was soon incorporated under his leadership. In 2017, the controlling stake in the enterprise was transferred to Chinese companies. In 2018, he was suspected of illegally selling more than 50% of shares to Chinese investors. The Ukrainian court arrested the shares at the request of the SBU.
Motor Sich develops, manufactures and services aircraft gas turbine engines and industrial gas turbine units. In 2014, the company found itself in a crisis situation after Kiev refused to sell its products to its main customer – Russian enterprises.