The Motor Sich,

Joint Stock Company A joint-stock company (JSC) is a business entity in which shares of the company's capital stock, stock can be bought and sold by shareholders. Each shareholder owns company stock in proportion, evidenced by their share (finance), shares (certifi ...

() is a Ukrainian aircraft engine manufacturer headquartered in

Zaporizhzhia Zaporizhzhia, formerly known as Aleksandrovsk or Oleksandrivsk until 1921, is a city in southeast Ukraine, situated on the banks of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. It is the Capital city, administrative centre of Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Zaporizhzhia ...

. The company manufactures engines for airplanes and helicopters as well as industrial marine gas turbines and installations.

Overview

Motor Sich currently produces the Ivchenko Progress D-18 turbofan which powers variants of the

Antonov An-124 The Antonov An-124 Ruslan (; ; NATO reporting name: Condor) is a large, strategic airlift, four-engined aircraft that was designed in the 1980s by the Antonov design bureau in the Ukrainian SSR of the Soviet Union (USSR). The An-124 is the ...

and

An-225 The Antonov An-225 Mriya (; NATO reporting name: Cossack) was a large strategic airlift cargo aircraft designed and produced by the Antonov, Antonov Design Bureau in the Soviet Union. It was originally developed during the 1980s as an enlarged ...

freighters, although the Ivchenko Progress D-36/ Ivchenko Progress D-436 series remain the highest production-rate engines in the CIS. Motor Sich inherited some of the former

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

's aero engine manufacturing capabilities. It produces turbofan, turboprop and rotary-wing turboshaft engines that power aircraft in Russian service, such as Mi- and Ka-series military helicopters. In 2017

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

's Skyrizon Aviation purchased a 41% holding in Motor Sich. Skyrizon Aviation had agreed to first invest $250 million in the Ukrainian

plants and help Motor Sich to set up a new assembly and servicing plant in

Chongqing ChongqingPostal Romanization, Previously romanized as Chungking ();. is a direct-administered municipality in Southwestern China. Chongqing is one of the four direct-administered municipalities under the State Council of the People's Republi ...

. The company announced that it planned to launch its own helicopter, dubbed Hope, in 2018. Some individuals, including former counsel to the

US Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

Foreign Relation Committee, William C. Triplet, have criticized Ukraine for allowing Motor Sich to conduct business with Chinese firms.

Oleh Lyashko Oleh Valeriiovych Liashko (; born 3 December 1972) is a Ukrainian politician, journalist and soldier who was a long time member of the Verkhovna Rada and leader of the Radical Party. Liashko was elected as a deputy to the Verkhovna Rada in 2006 ...

, leader of Ukraine’s Radical Party, said if the US does not want Motor Sich to be closer with the Chinese, then they need to buy enough aircraft engines. Motor Sich severed ties with Russia in 2014, its biggest client, and consequently made efforts to find new markets. In the administration of President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

, Washington added Skyrizon to a Military End-User (MEU) List. President

Volodymyr Zelenskyy Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy (born 25 January 1978) is a Ukrainian politician and former entertainer who has served as the sixth and current president of Ukraine since 2019. He took office five years after the start of the Russo-Ukraini ...

then signed a decree imposing sanctions on Skyrizon to restrict its trading operations, while the company responded with a $3.5 billion arbitration case. On 11 March 2021, the Ukrainian government announced its intention to nationalize Motor Sich by buying back shares from Chinese holders. Secretary of the

National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine The National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, ( NSDCU; , ''RNBOU'') or RNBO, is the coordinating state body of the executive power under the President of Ukraine on issues of national security and defense. It is a state agency tasked wi ...

Oleksiy Danilov Oleksiy Miacheslavovych Danilov (; born 7 September 1962) is a Ukrainian politician who was the secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine from 2019 to 2024, when he was replaced by Oleksandr Lytvynenko, the former head o ...

said the government's decision is to "return Motor Sich to the Ukrainian people" and that "investors will be compensated". Several Turkish military products use Motor Sich engines, including the

Bayraktar TB2 Bayraktar TB2 (Turkish language, Turkish: ''Standard-bearer TB2'') is a Medium-altitude long-endurance UAV, medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) capable of remotely controlled or autonomous flight operati ...

Bayraktar Akinci Bayraktar may refer to: * Bayraktar (surname) * Bayraktar, Bayburt, a village in Turkey * Bayraktar UAV, a brand of Turkish drone ** Bayraktar (song), Ukraine, 2022, about the UAV in the Russian invasion * ''Bayraktar''-class tank landing ship, T ...

Bayraktar Kızılelma The Bayraktar Kızılelma (English language, English: ''Red Apple'') is a single-engine, low-observable, carrier-based aircraft, carrier-capable, jet-powered unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV), currently in development by Defense industry of T ...

TAI Anka-3 The Anka-3 is a flying wing type stealth UCAV currently in development by Turkish Aerospace Industries. It is one of two Turkish jet-powered stealth UCAVs developed as part of Project MIUS, along with the Bayraktar Kızılelma. Development an ...

drones and the TAI T929 ATAK 2 helicopter. Director-General of Motor Sich, Vyacheslav Bohuslayev noted that a $100 million loan from China needs to be repaid in 2026. Among the company's new products is the

MS-500V The MS-500V is a Ukrainian family of military and civilian turboshaft engines developed by Motor Sich. The new engine is intended for helicopters with a takeoff weight up to 6 tonnes. Its certification is scheduled for the first quarter of 2011, ...

turboshaft engine, originally intended for the Russian Ansat helicopter. Following the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

, the Motor Sich plant in Zaporizhzhia was struck multiple times by Russian attacks. Russia said that the plant was destroyed in late May 2022. It was again struck in August 2022, August 2023, and January 2025.

2022 nationalisation

On November 6, 2022, the government of President

used martial law to nationalise the company, alleging that "Such steps, which are necessary for our country in conditions of war, are carried out in accordance with current laws and will help meet the urgent needs of our defense sector." The government of Ukraine also took control of truck maker

KrAZ KrAZ (, ''Kremenchutskyi Avtomobilnyi Zavod'', Kremenchuk Automobile Plant, АвтоКрА́З or AvtoKrAZ) is a factory in Kremenchuk, Ukraine, that produces trucks and other special-purpose vehicles, particularly heavy-duty off-road models. Th ...

, energy companies

Ukrnafta Public JSC Ukrnafta () is a Ukrainian oil and natural gas extracting company, the largest producer of oil and gas in the country. Ukrnafta is also an operator of a gas filling station network in Ukraine nationwide. In 2006, the company conducted ...

and

Ukrtatnafta Ukrtatnafta is a Ukrainian oil refining company based in Kremenchuk and founded in 1994. It is one of the largest producers of oil products in the country. The company operates the largest oil refinery in the country located in Kremenchuk with a c ...

and transformer maker Zaporozhtransformator at the same time. Chinese company Skyrizon accused Ukraine of "unjustified plundering."

Components

* Zaporizhzhia Engine Engineering Factory,

* Omelchenko Engineering Factory (1988),

* Snizhne Engineering Factory (1970),

Snizhne Snizhne (, ) or Snezhnoye (), formerly known as Vasylivka (; ) until 1864, is a city in Horlivka Raion, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. The eastern edge of Snizhne is adjacent to administrative border of Luhansk Oblast. Its population is History The ...

* Volochysk Engineering Factory (1971),

Volochysk Volochysk (, ; ; ) is a small city located on the left bank of the Zbruch River in Khmelnytskyi Raion, Khmelnytskyi Oblast (Oblast, province) of western Ukraine. It hosts the administration of Volochysk urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukra ...

* Motor Sich Airlines (1984) * Aleks TV (1995), local television company In 2011 it acquired Orsha Engineering Factory,

Orsha Orsha (; , ; ) is a city in Vitebsk Region, Belarus. It is situated on the fork of the Dnieper, Dnieper River and Arshytsa River, and it serves as the administrative center of Orsha District. As of 2025, it has a population of 101,662. History ...

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

Gallery

File:Engine_D-18T.jpg,

Progress D-18T The Progress D-18T (or Lotarev D-18T) is a high-bypass turbofan that powers the Antonov An-124 Ruslan and An-225 large freighters. Design and development The engine was developed in the second half of the 1970s by the then Soviet Ivchenko-Pr ...

engine manufactured by Motor Sich File:D-436-148_MAKS-2009.jpg,

Progress D-436 The Progress D-436 is a triple-spool high-bypass turbofan engine developed by the Ukrainian company Ivchenko-Progress during the Soviet era, and manufactured by Motor Sich in Ukraine. It was initially developed to meet the requirements for l ...

engine manufactured by Motor Sich File:MS-500V_HeliRussia_2010.jpg, Motor Sich

engine File:Mil_Mi-8MSB-V.jpg, Ukrainian Modernization Mil

Mi-8 The Mil Mi-8 (, NATO reporting name: Hip) is a medium twin-turbine helicopter, originally designed by the Soviet Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute (TsAGI) in the 1960s and introduced into the Soviet Air Force in 1968. Russian production of t ...

MSB-V File:Mil_Mi-24P,_Ukraine_-_Army_AN1387321.jpg, Modernized Mil

Mi-24 The Mil Mi-24 (; NATO reporting name: Hind) is a large helicopter gunship, attack helicopter and low-capacity transport helicopter, troop transport with room for eight passengers. It is produced by Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant and was introduced ...

P in Ukraine Army service File:Engine_AI-136T_for_Mi-26(hdr)_(5758503573).jpg, Progress AI-136T turboshaft for

Mi-26 The Mil Mi-26 (, NATO reporting name: Halo) is a Soviet Union, Soviet/Russian heavy Military transport helicopter, transport helicopter. Its product code is ''Izdeliye 90''. Operated by both military and civilian operators, it is the largest ...

Daughter organizations

* Motor Sich Airlines *

FC Motor Zaporizhzhia FC Motor Zaporizhzhia () is an amateur Ukrainian football team from Zaporizhzhia. The club is owned by an aircraft engine manufacturer Motor Sich. History The club was created in 1950. For many years it participated in Zaporizhzhia Oblast Cha ...

HC Motor Zaporizhzhia HC Motor Zaporizhzhia is a Ukrainian professional men's handball club. It competes in the Ukrainian Men's Handball Super League The Ukrainian Men's Handball Super League () is the top men's league of Ukrainian handball. It was founded in 1992 ...

References

External links

JSC Motor-Sich web site
{{PFTSI Shevchenkivskyi District, Zaporizhzhia Gas turbine manufacturers Aircraft engine manufacturers of Ukraine Aircraft engine manufacturers of the Soviet Union Ukrainian brands Ukroboronprom Companies nationalised by the Soviet Union 1907 establishments in Ukraine Companies based in Zaporizhzhia Manufacturing companies established in 1907 Engine manufacturers of Ukraine Aerospace companies of Europe Aerospace companies of Ukraine Companies in the PFTS index Turboshaft engine manufacturers