Marine Equipments Centre resells engines to Russian airlines, skirting sanctions

A company called Marine Equipments Centre Pvt. Ltd., based in Kochi, India, purchased two aircraft engines from a Luxembourg firm for roughly $17 million. Two months later, those same engines landed with Rossiya Airlines JSC for around $24 million. The contract explicitly prohibited re-export to Russia. MEC did it anyway.

The engines in question were CFM56-5B units, the workhorse powerplant designed for the Airbus A320 family. The seller was Vallair Asset Solutions, a Luxembourg-based aviation asset manager. The intermediary facilitating the deal on the ground was Aman Aviation & Aerospace Solutions Pvt. Ltd. The markup: roughly $7 million, or about 41%, for what amounted to a two-month holding period.

The sanctions pipeline that won’t shut off

As of April 30, 2026, Russian airlines were operating 460 Airbus and Boeing jets. That figure is remarkably close to pre-sanctions fleet levels from 2021. Instead of grounding, a sprawling network of intermediaries across India, Turkey, the UAE, and Kazakhstan stepped in to keep them airborne.

Trade data identified at least 30 exporters, including multiple Indian firms, that continued funneling aviation parts to Russia. Many of them applied substantial markups before shipping components eastward.

How the deal worked

MEC acquired the two CFM56-5B engines from Vallair. The engines arrived in India. Within two months, they were resold to Rossiya Airlines, a Russian carrier that operates under the Aeroflot umbrella.

Vallair’s sales contract contained explicit clauses prohibiting re-export to Russia. Those clauses were ignored. The deal generated a roughly $7 million profit for the intermediary chain on a transaction that took less than 60 days from import to re-export.

Aman Aviation & Aerospace Solutions handled the intermediation. MEC’s chairman, Ajay Kumar, stated that the company ceased Russia-related transactions after receiving directives from Indian authorities.

MEC was not the only Indian firm involved. Companies including Chandsara Aviation and Shreegee also exported parts to entities associated with Aeroflot and S7 Group, generating millions in profits along the way.

Western suppliers tighten up, but the damage is done

After Bloomberg’s reporting exposed the diversion pipeline, Western suppliers including FTAI Aviation and Vallair moved to enhance their compliance measures.

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