South African company wants its aircraft

Published: 7/11/2000

A South African company has filed suit against the Government of Kazakstan claiming that failed to fulfil a contract to deliver An-28s for use in Africa. Gran Propeller (GP) signed a contract in late June 1999 with the Kazak state company Karu Zhark, subsequently renamed Kazspetsexport, for the purchase of five An-28s from the fleet of the Aktyubinsk Flying School. Three of the aircraft left Kazakhstan, but the other aircraft were detained by the joint civil aviation committee of the Ministry of Transport and Communications, the Customs Committee and the Prosecutor's Department despite the fact that the South African buyer had paid for the aircraft in full. According to reports, the aircraft were life expired in Kazakhstan and had been grounded for the last five years. However, GP's representative in Kazakhstan has claimed that the African operator acquired the aircraft for $83,000 and then spent a further $150,000 making them airworthy, sorting out documentation in South Africa and Kazakhstan and registering the aircraft in Equatorial Guinea, where GP's partner Victoria Air is operating the aircraft. The reasons for the detention of two planes after the passage of the three earlier aircraft in late 1999 and early 2000, appear to lie in a statement from the Prosecutors Department that said an investigation was underway regarding the 'fairness' of the price reached for the deal. The aircraft will therefore remain on the ground at Aktobe Airport until the matter is decided. Both GP and Victoria Air plan to file suit with the local courts and the international arbitrage authorities in an effort to get the aircraft released, arguing that they have legitimate title as they have paid for the aircraft. They are therefore seeking damages of $1.5m for loss of income from the impounded aircraft. The reason for the Kazak's action seem unclear, but the extensive repercussions of the MiG-21 scandal regarding the illegal export of aircraft to North Korea will have undoubtedly made the authorities extremely cautious. The prices quoted for the deal however, do not appear to be out of line with those being done elsewhere, if the aircraft are in the condition reported.

Article ID: 1928