The sale of the largest Czech aircraft manufacturer Aero Vodochody by the investment group PENTA, which has been dragging on for over a year, has finally been completed. As the company itself announced on September 30, based on a contract signed in July, a Hungarian company is now the 100 percent owner.
Vodochody Holdings HU is wholly owned by the Hungarian company HSC Aerojet Zrt., in which the Hungarian businessman Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky holds a majority stake of 80 percent and the Czech defense company OMNIPOL (controlled by the Háva family) holds the remaining 20 percent. The sale also includes the Vodochody airfield north of Prague. PENTA also wanted to establish it for civilian traffic, but now it remains a military-type site. With the change of ownership, the new President and CEO Viktor Sotona joined Aero on September 30, replacing the German (ex-Airbus) manager Dieter John. Viktor Sotona had been CEO of the Czech company ERA, which focused on passive surveillance and reconnaissance solutions, for nine years. Under his leadership, the Pardubice-based company achieved record sales and doubled its workforce.
After 14 years, Aero is thus leaving the PENTA Group, which took over the traditional company in 2007, which was just over 100 years old and had produced thousands of L-29 and L-39 trainer jets for the former Warsaw Pact (except Poland) and for more than 30 countries. Under PENTA, Aero has successfully established a number of civil and military aerostructures supply programs (for example for the KC-390), carried out overhauls of L-39s from all over the world, sold three dozen aircraft to countries such as the USA and Iraq and, in recent years, pursued the development and production of the new L-39NG in parallel. This received a type certificate in September last year and already has a launch customer in Asia. The next customers are likely to come from Austria’s neighborhood.
???????? pořídí pro Centrum leteckého výcviku šest nových L-39NG. Výsledek jednání @ObranaTweetuje a @mpo_tweetuje v @Aero_Vodochody. Fact, že letadla tuzemské výroby využije @ArmadaCR, je základní předpoklad úspěšného prodeje do zahraničí. pic.twitter.com/RT8Doecm1J
– Karel Havlíček (@KarelHavlicek_) September 29, 2021
Viktor Sonota said in an initial statement: “Aero will continue to develop all three pillars of its business, i.e. the production and development of its own military aircraft, the repair and overhaul (MRO) business and the production of structural parts as a supplier to national and international programs. All three areas will remain part of our business strategy.”
In Hungary, financial and online media reported a few weeks ago that a government resolution from August 13 clearly stated that the government in Budapest would provide HSC Aerojet Zrt. with a state guarantee for borrowing 53 billion forints (around 150 million euros) via the Hungarian Development Bank “for defense industrial development”. Of the loan amount, the state-insured guarantee covers 80 percent of the resulting capital claim. In the case of the state guarantee, the fee is 5.3 percent of the capital claim, to be paid in a lump sum. The guarantee is valid until December 31, 2021, when it was assumed in Hungary that Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky’s company would need the loan for the purchase of Aero Vodochody. Previously, another Hungarian businessman, András Tombor (a close confidant of Árpád Habony, the founder of Mathias Corvinus College) had attempted a takeover with OMNIPOL for 51 to 49 percent, but was allegedly unable to raise the necessary funds. HSC Aerojet Zrt. is itself a subsidiary of Magyar Aerojet Investment Asset Management Ltd. whose CEO and sole shareholder is Mr. Szalay-Bobrovniczky. The aristocrat is a former Hungarian ambassador in London and husband of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s government spokeswoman and former Fidesz deputy mayor of Budapest Alexandra S.B. He is also described as belonging to the circle of Árpád Habony, who in turn is very close to Viktor Orbán.
During a recent visit by Viktor Orbán to Prague, three ministers gathered for a photo opportunity in front of the L-39NG prototype at the Aero Vodochody plant. Lubomir Metnar as Czech Minister of Defense, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Industry, Trade and Transport Karel Havlicek and Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó. Minister Havlicek then tweeted that the use of domestically produced aircraft in their own army was a prerequisite for successful sales abroad. Consequently, he announced that six long-awaited L-39NGs will now be procured for the Czech training and simulation center LOM-Praha. And furthermore – in addition to the apparently recently promoted efforts at the SIAF in Slovakia to procure twelve L-39NG/LCAs – the takeover of ownership by Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky’s company was probably a kind of “prerequisite” for a deal for ten or twelve aircraft for the Hungarian Air Force, which has also been rumored for some time. Both air forces need jet trainers for training and cheaper hours, and if this is realized for Magyar Légierő, then via the now “own” manufacturer – including its state guarantee until the end of the year. A few days before the announcement in question, Militär Aktuell spoke to the chief designer of the L-39NG in Kuchyna. Jaromir Lang also confirmed the continued interest in Austria and said: “The Austrians need a substitute (note: to the Eurofighter) even after returning from training abroad, which is rumored to be very expensive. We believe that we could provide both on our aircraft at a much lower cost.”
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