Another 15 billion rubles will be given to the MS-21 aircraft project

The project of the domestic medium-haul aircraft MS-21 will receive an additional 15 billion rubles. to the expansion of production. This was announced by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin during an operational meeting with deputy prime ministers on September 12 (the transcript is available on the website of the Cabinet of Ministers).

The funds will be allocated as part of a strategy to support the Russian economy in the face of sanctions pressure, Mishustin said. The government as a whole will allocate more than 100 billion rubles for these purposes.

Additional comments to Vedomosti at the time of publication in the Ministry of Industry and Trade, as well as in the manufacturer of the MS-21 and other Russian aircraft – the United Aircraft Corporation (UACis part of Rostec) was not provided.

At the meeting, Mishustin also said that state support of 25 billion rubles. will receive an “air traffic management system”. On September 1, Vedomosti wrote about plans to allocate such an amount in the form of subsidies to the main Russian provider of air navigation services – the State Corporation for Air Traffic Management (State Air Traffic Management Corporation; subordinate to Rosaviatsia).

This is not the first time that budget funds have been allocated to support the MS-21 project. In January 2019, the government allocated 10.5 billion rubles. for the creation, production and maintenance of these aircraft. The money had to be received within three years: in 2019 – 1.58 billion rubles, in 2020 and 2021. – 4.11 and 4.81 billion rubles. respectively. Director General of Roscosmos Yuri Borisov, who in 2018 held the post of Deputy Prime Minister in charge of industry, then estimated the cost of creating MS-21 at 465 billion rubles. until 2025

According to the program for the development of the aviation industry until 2030, domestic carriers should receive 270 MS-21 aircraft. At the same time, 210 such aircraft will be bought by “Aeroflot“, reported the airline’s CEO Sergei Aleksandrovsky at a meeting with President Vladimir Putin (Vedomosti wrote about this on August 26). At the EEF-2022 in Vladivostok, on September 7, Aeroflot signed a contract with UAC for almost 1 trillion rubles. for the purchase of 339 domestic aircraft, including 210 MS-21, which will be leased from 2023 to 2030. Firm orders for the MS-21 in 2018 were also made by Red Wings (16 aircraft) and Iraero (10 aircraft), as well as the leasing companies VEB-Leasing,Sberbank Leasing” and “Ilyushin Finance”.

In 2022, the Russian aviation industry received an unprecedented amount of state support due to sanctions imposed against it by “unfriendly” countries after the start of a special military operation (SVO) in Ukraine. 100 billion rubles were allocated to domestic airlines. for the organization of transportation within the country. In June, the Federal Air Transport Agency distributed these funds, half of the subsidies were received by the group “Aeroflot“.

Carriers also received 19.4 billion rubles. for the return of tickets for flights canceled due to external restrictions. Russian cargo airlines received 2.9 billion rubles. subsidies. State support of 3.79 billion rubles. 11 airports in the south and center of Russia that were closed after the start of the NWO were also received.

The state has also invested in selected Russian airlines. “Aeroflot» was capitalized by 52.5 billion rubles, after which the state’s share in the airline increased to 73.77%. 17 billion rubles were allocated for the restructuring of the debt obligations of Ural Airlines, Aurora and S7. from the National Welfare Fund (NWF).

The anti-Russian sanctions imposed against the Russian Federation after the start of the NWO effectively cut off the access of Russian airlines to new imported equipment (including the most common Boeing and Airbus in their fleets), as well as to maintenance and insurance of these aircraft (AC).

The editor-in-chief of the portal Avia.ru Roman Gusarov suggests that the allocated 15 billion rubles. for the MS-21 will be aimed at accelerating the serial production of aircraft. He added that under the sanctions and blocking the supply of imported aircraft, the MS-21 aircraft are “very much needed by airlines.”

HSE expert Fyodor Borisov also connects the need to expand the production of MS-21 liners with the need to increase production capacity for this aircraft. “If earlier this airliner was supposed to become a competitor to Airbus, now the MS-21 is generally one of the few aircraft available for Russian airlines,” the expert explains.

According to Borisov, the amount allocated for MS-21 “is not excessive.” “Moreover, additional investments in MS-21 are beneficial for the state, since the money will return to the budget through the fiscal system in a few years,” adds Gusarov.