Russia sells part of controversial EADS stake A Russian state-controlled bank has sold part of its 5 per cent stake in EADS , the European aerospace group, ending an audacious experiment in Russian integration with EU industrial policy. The sale by Vnesheconombank comes amid signs that it plans to sell out completely of EADS to fund an increasingly costly foray into civilian aircraft. In September 2006 the Kremlin told stunned French and German governments that VTB, another Russian state bank, had bought a 5 per cent holding in Europe's flagship aerospace group. The stake building was seen by many analysts as a bid by Moscow for a board seat or even a blocking minority in the conglomerate, though neither ever materialised. VTB later sold the stake to Vnesheconombank. Vnesheconombank declined to comment on the sale, which was originally reported by Russian newspaper Vedomosti. But a recent filing with the Dutch Financial Markets Authority showed the stake was reduced from 5 per cent to 2.88 per cent. The sale of the shares on that date would have been worth about €763m, based on market prices at the time. Since the initial investment, Russia's strategy in global civil aerospace has become more modest, focusing on developing the S100 Superjet, which has suffered from huge cost overruns. The 100-seat short-range regional jet is positioned to compete with Brazil's Embraer and Canada's Bombardier, and be the prelude to medium and long range jets set to compete with Airbus and Boeing. So far 30 Superjets have been produced and, overall, the company has about 200 orders. Vedomosti reported on Friday that the project was $2.1bn in debt and its parent company, Sukhoi Civil Aircraft, had to enter into negotiations with creditors this year in order to stave off technical bankruptcy. United Aircraft Corporation, Sukhoi's parent company, declined to comment. Evidence of Sukoi's financial difficulties arising from the Superjet were made clearer on Thursday, when Yuri Slyusar, Russia's deputy industry minister, told journalists that a "next generation" project for a medium range jet to follow on the Superjet's footsteps had been put on hold until 2016. He added that "the resources would be devoted to developing and supporting" the Superjet. Vedomosti cited anonymous officials saying that the proceeds of the EADS share sale could be used as part of a complicated scheme to support Sukhoi. One proposal was to convert the debt Sukoi owes to Vnesheconombank into equity and recapitalise the company, the paper said. Neither Vnesheconombank nor UAC would confirm any details.