LONDON, December 5. /TASS/. The Ukrainian aircraft engine maker Motor Sich has been pushing to gain more business with the West but has made little progress so far, Reuters reported.

The challenges facing Motor Sich underscore how hard it is for Ukrainian companies to expand cooperation amid concerns over their track record on corruption and as the conflict with Russia goes on, the report said.

"We want to turn to the West," Motor Sich Chief Executive Officer Alexey Nikiforov was quoted as saying.

He has chased meetings with US defense contractors like Lockheed Martin and RTX at air shows and government events for almost a year, Reuters said.

But Reuters said its interviews with more than a half dozen US defense executives, former US officials and experts suggest that Motor Sich is facing many hurdles. They said US businesses are open to cooperation with Ukrainian partners further down the line, but it will take time to prove they will be able to comply with US and European regulations while doing business together.

Many Ukrainian defense companies will raise alarm during the thorough due diligence and compliance reviews conducted by Western defense companies, one US defense executive told Reuters. Those issues are not insurmountable but can bog down the approval process for co-production deals, he said.

Motor Sich is one of the largest manufacturers of aircraft engines and industrial gas turbines. The company produces engines for Mi-8, Mi-17 and Ka-226 helicopters; An-70, An-124, An-140, An-148 and Yak-130 airplanes, gas-compressor units and electric power equipment. After the collapse of the USSR, the company continued to actively cooperate with Russia. After the 2014 coup in Ukraine, Kiev banned any defense-industry cooperation with Moscow.