FARNBOROUGH England
(Reuters) - Doubts over Russia's participation in the world's biggest
aerospace industry event were growing on Tuesday after the country's
deputy prime minister urged its delegates to pack up and go home.
Unlike previous years,
when Russian military displays have been some of the main attractions,
Russia has no military hardware on display at Britain's Farnborough
Airshow after it was dragged into an East-West diplomatic row over
Ukraine.
Britain snubbed Russia
last week by not inviting any of its government officials to the
biennial air show. Organizers also said more than 100 Russian delegates
were unable to attend after failing to receive British visas.
"Given what happened in
Ukraine, the idea was to avoid it looking like 'business as usual' with
Russia," said one Western source familiar with planning for the air
show.
Russia is only exhibiting
civilian aircraft - two Sukhoi Superjet airliners - at the show and on
Monday its deputy prime minister urged its delegates to walk out.
"I recommend our delegation roll up participation in the show and return home," Dmitry Rogozin wrote on Twitter.
The head of United
Aircraft Corporation, the Russian state-owned company which operates
Superjet manufacturer Sukhoi, said politics should stay out of the
business world.
"Business should be above
politics. You can have political disagreements but business ... should
be left out of it," Director General Mikhail Pogosyan told Reuters.
Russia's arms export
agency aims to maintain last's years level of business, which totaled
some $13 billion in revenues from sales to 60 countries, according to
media reports.
But the European Union
introduced a new round of sanctions last week against Russian firms and
individuals over claims Moscow is supporting a separatist movement in
Ukraine's Russian-speaking east.
Ukraine's defense
minister said on Monday a Ukrainian AN-26 plane, taking part in a
military campaign against separatist rebels, had been shot down by a
rocket which was "probably" fired from Russian territory.
Russia denies supporting
the revolt, which began in April after Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimea
peninsula following the overthrow of a Moscow-backed president in Kiev,
while dealing with growing signs its economy is wilting under EU and
U.S. sanctions.
"It's obvious that
because of tensions with Western governments over differences between
Russia and Ukraine, the military presence is really scaled down at this
year's Farnborough," air show organizer Alexander Velovich said.
Ukraine's state-run
aircraft manufacturer Anotonov told Reuters it had lost more than $100
million of business and 10 percent of its trade since political fall-out
made cooperation with Russia impossible.
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