The head of the Colombian Ministry of Defense, Ivan Velasquez, stated that the country refused to work with the Russian company National Aviation Service Company SA (NASC) on the maintenance of Mi-17-1V, Mi-17MD, Mi-17-V5 helicopters due to sanctions and problems with payments via SWIFT. Colombian authorities are in negotiations with contractors from the United States and Mexico.
According to Velasquez, from 2021 to 2022, Colombia signed two contracts with NASC. The first was completed in September 2022, and the second was frozen due to sanctions.
Rosoboronexport offered the Colombian authorities to formally replace the contractor or rewrite the terms of the contract to avoid international control. However, Bogota did not take this step.
Despite the difficulties, Colombia does not plan to abandon the Mi-17, as it is much cheaper to operate than Western counterparts, including the American UH-60A/L helicopter.
From 1996 to 2009, Colombia bought 26 Mi-17 helicopters of various modifications from Russia. Currently, 8 rotorcraft are in working order, 9 are in the process of conservation, and 2 are waiting for spare parts.
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