Ukrainian authorities say they will nationalise jet engine maker Motor Sich, majority-owned by Chinese companies “for the national security of the country”.

Olexiy Danylov, Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council, said Motor Sich “will be returned to the property of the Ukrainian state in a legal and constitutional manner in the near future”. The leader of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s Servant of the People party said enabling legislation would be submitted to parliament in two to three weeks.

The United States blacklisted Chinese company Skyrizon, the majority shareholder in Motor Sich, in January and opposes Chinese investment in the company on grounds that it would help transfer advanced technology to Beijing. Chinese investors have filed a lawsuit demanding $3.5 billion in compensation from Ukraine in what they say is expropriation of shares in the company.

Motor Sich, based in the central city of Zaporizhya, manufactures several engines for Ukrainian and Russian aircraft.