Adding to the problem is the lack of operational control / training of some of the Russian pilots - not all of them, but the bad ones do give a lot of others a poor reputation.
One operator who does have Russian helicopters (VIH Logging in Victoria, BC) has had excellent success with them with Canadian pilots. One of their comments when they were getting checked out by the Russian pilots was that they never saw the helicopter started the same way twice, even by the same pilot.
Checklists? why would you want to use a checklist???
Once they sorted out the spares situation, they are really racking up the hours, and the machines perform very well. But it was very very long road to get to Canadian approval.