Offshore schemes: how the Russian-linked company AAL Group Ltd legalized itself in the UAE and gained access to Ukrainian helicopters

Despite large-scale Western sanctions, Russian companies continue to find loopholes to maintain influence in international markets and legalize their activities through offshore jurisdictions. Most often, such structures are registered in the UAE, Cyprus, or Liechtenstein, where the real control of beneficiaries is difficult to establish. One of the companies that could have used such a “mask” is AAL Group Ltd, registered in the Sharjah Airport International Free Zone (SAIF Zone) in the United Arab Emirates. Formally, it is a private international company. In fact, it is a structure from the orbit of the state concern “Rostec”, which unites dozens of enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex, writes UNN. 

It was to this company that in 2025, the temporarily suspended head of the State Aviation Service of Ukraine, Oleksandr Bilchuk, transferred the right to support the repair documentation of Ukrainian Mi-8MT (MTV) helicopters. 

AAL Group Ltd is a clear example of how companies associated with the Russian defense sector use offshore jurisdictions to circumvent sanctions. 

The US Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM) recognized AAL Group Ltd as unsuitable for cooperation back in 2024. In view of this, the positive decision regarding the company with a Russian trace, to which Oleksandr Bilchuk granted access to sensitive information, raises even more questions. After all, such actions by an official during the war are essentially an anti-state decision and require a thorough investigation by law enforcement agencies. 

It is known from open sources that the company was founded by former military personnel Serhiy Krapivtsev and Oleh Fidelskyi. According to media reports, it was through this company that Russian “Rostec”, its subordinate company “Oboronprom” and its subsidiary structure – JSC “Russian Helicopters” withdrew funds offshore, and also received foreign contracts, for example, for missions in Afghanistan. 

The media names Serhiy Chemezov, head of the Russian state corporation “Rostec” and close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, as the ultimate beneficiary of AAL Group Ltd’s activities.

Apparently, at the time of AAL Group Ltd’s creation, Fidelskyi already had experience in creating offshore companies for the Russian defense industry. As one of the annual reports of the enemy “Russian Helicopters” shows, the state company cooperated with INTERNATIONAL ROTORCRAFT SERVICES FZC, founded by Oleh Fidelskyi back in 2009. The main activity of this company is maintenance, repair, and provision of service services for Russian-made helicopter equipment in the UAE.

It is interesting that both of Fidelskyi’s companies – AAL Group Ltd and INTERNATIONAL ROTORCRAFT SERVICES FZC – are registered in the same hangar of the customs zone of the United Arab Emirates and have identical types of activity, meaning both actually serve the interests of “Rostec”.

In addition, according to Fedor Venislavskyi, a member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security, Defense, and Intelligence, the top management of AAL Group Ltd holds Russian passports. 

And, as UNN wrote earlier, AAL Group Ltd has official ties with the Russian aviation industry. Already after the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and Russia’s invasion of Donbas, Rosaviatsiya issued the company a maintenance organization certificate No. 285-17-151 on December 6, 2017. 

According to this document, AAL Group Ltd can perform repair and maintenance of aircraft in accordance with Russian aviation regulations. Such a permit cannot be issued without coordination with Russian state structures, and was obviously needed by the company to cooperate with Russian companies.

In addition, the official American website of AAL Group Ltd’s US division states that the group has certificates from the Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant (MMHP) and the Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC) controlled by Russia. 

The presence of such certificates indicates AAL Group Ltd’s admission to work with Russian Mi-8/Mi-17 type helicopters, as well as official recognition of its competence by Russian developers and regulatory bodies.

Of particular importance is the fact that the Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant is a structural part of the “Russian Helicopters” holding, which is part of the state corporation “Rostec”, a component of the Russian Federation’s military-industrial complex. Thus, any certification or technical cooperation with this plant effectively means interaction with a state Russian defense structure. 

Ukraine, by the way, after Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, imposed sanctions against “Rostec”, which were also later supported by the European Union and the United States. So, against this background alone, there are already many questions about the activities of AAL Group Ltd.

Despite this, AAL Group Ltd formally continues to operate as a “neutral” international entity. This is a classic scheme where companies with a Russian trace are “cleaned up” through offshore companies to cooperate with Western or, in our case, Ukrainian partners.

Ukraine’s cooperation with AAL Group Ltd shows how important it is to strengthen its own mechanisms for checking companies that gain access to strategic, sensitive, and defense information.