Barco to start assembly of avionics products in Russia

MAKS Airshow, Zhukovsky, Russia, 21 August 2007 ñ Visualization specialist Barco is to start assembly activities for its avionics products in
Russia. To this end, the Belgium-based company is in final negotiations with electronic equipment supplier Elara of
Cheboksary and system integration company NIIAO of Zhukovsky. Barcoís plans underpin the companyís commitment as a supplier of high-grade avionics displays to the Russian avionics marketplace.

ìWe are confident that cooperating with Elara will offer new opportunities to better respond to the demand of our customers in
Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States,î said General Manager of Barcoís Avionics Division Yves Vanhauwaert. ìNot only will it permit us to assemble our avionics displays at a leading and highly reputed production plant in the heart of the Russian market, it will also stimulate and enrich the development of both companiesí technology and expertise.î

ìWe are delighted that our negotiations with Barco, which were initiated by our former director, the late and honored Mr. Ilienko, are leading to a partnership agreement. It will permit us to participate in the success of Barcoís leading display technology on the Russian market,î said Anatoli Aranovich, General Director of Elara. ìWe are convinced that the agreement will be the start of a long-standing, successful relationship that may eventually grow beyond the Russian marketplace,î Aranovich continued.

ìThe assembly of Barco developed displays within Russia will provide us with more flexibility to approach the growing market of state-of-the-art integrated cockpit solutions,î affirmed Viacheslav Chernyshov, General Director of the NIIAO company, the leading Russian system integrator of civil aircraft cockpits and a major customer of Barco in Russia.

For the assembly of Barcoís avionics displays, Elara will establish a dedicated production unit that meets the same, stringent quality requirements of Barcoís own avionics production lines in
Belgium. Elara will have its own qualified people and in-house facilities for environmental testing, acceptance testing and Quality Assurance.

Once the agreement will be fully implemented, Elara will assemble Barcoís Control Display and Management Systems ëCDMSí. The first units will be delivered to NIIAO for system integration in December. Production is expected to reach full capacity by March 2008.