The Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Commons of Canada has agreed to hold a hearing on the decision of the Canadian Foreign Ministry to grant aerospace companies an exemption from restrictions on the possible use of Russian titanium, UNN reports with reference to CBC .
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Recently, Airbus and Bombardier have received benefits that allowed them to circumvent sanctions imposed on VSMPO-AVISMA, one of the world's largest producers of this essential mineral, the publication writes.
This decision sparked outrage from Ukraine's Ambassador to Canada, Yulia Kovaliv, who said that allowing companies to continue using Russian titanium (while other countries have other suppliers) is fueling the Kremlin's war machine.
The proposal to study this decision was made by the New Democrats on Wednesday evening.
"We heard that this is particularly egregious because Ukraine has titanium that they could use, and instead we lifted sanctions on Russia and titanium," said Heather Macpherson, a politician from the New Democratic Party .
"So I think it's very important that we understand why the government made this decision. You know, the government has said that it strongly supports Ukraine. It does raise questions whether that is true or not," she said.
Last week, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly reportedly supported the decision, saying that jobs in Canada are at stake.
In February, Canada became the first Western government to ban Russian supplies of the strategic metal as part of a package of measures to mark the second anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Joly, among others, will be summoned to testify before the Foreign Affairs Committee.
Titanium is used in the production of aircraft engines because of its light weight and strength.
The sanctions imposed by the country, as indicated, could affect two major military procurement projects - the acquisition of both new search and rescue aircraft and new transport and refueling aircraft. Both aircraft are manufactured by Airbus.
In a statement provided to the CBC, the country's Ministry of Defense, as indicated, avoided the question of the impact of sanctions, acknowledging only the fact that some components are made of titanium without specifying the source.
"Both the Airbus CC-295 Kingfisher and CC-330 Husky are likely to contain titanium and titanium alloy components, ranging from rivets, nuts and fasteners to engine components, furniture and structures," the statement said.
"We are aware that Airbus as a whole has already taken steps to isolate its supply chain from sanctioned titanium from Russia. However, we would like to refer you to Airbus for more information on the procurement of titanium in certain components of its aircraft," the statement reads.
More than 18 months ago, Airbus promised to follow the example of its competitor Boeing and stop doing business with VSMPO-AVISMA, "but Kovalev says it doesn't seem to have happened," the newspaper writes.
Канада оприлюднила нову оборонну стратегію до 2030 року09.04.24, 01:45