The Canadian government has allowed the aviation giant Airbus to use Russian titanium in its production after Canada banned its supply to the country in the latest package of sanctions. This was reported by Komersant ukrainskyi with reference to Reuters.
The move will allow Airbus to continue to manufacture its aircraft at Canadian plants and is expected to allay concerns that the company’s operations may be affected. After all, it was actually a ban on imports of European Airbus jets to Canada, which mainly rely on lightweight titanium.
“Airbus is aware that the Canadian government is imposing sanctions on VSMPO [a Russian metallurgical company that produces titanium and titanium products – ed,
– Airbus Canada said in response to a Reuters request.
The company did not elaborate on the details of this approval and did not say how long it would remain in force. The Canadian government did not respond to requests for comment.
After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Boeing announced that it would stop using Russian titanium. The company said that it had sufficient stocks of the metal and would be switching to other suppliers. Airbus, on the other hand, has also announced its future refusal from Russian raw materials, but it appears that Russian titanium is still being used there.
Since 2014, Canada has imposed sanctions on more than 2,900 individuals and entities in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Moldova involved in violating Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as gross and systematic human rights violations.