Putin said that civil aviation expects “systemic rearmament”

Russia’s civil aviation is awaiting “systemic re-equipment”, that is, the transition to domestically produced aircraft, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday at the Eastern Economic Forum (WEF). Airlines of the country, including “Aeroflot”, formed the largest package of orders in modern history, for about 500 Russian-made aircraft, the president said.

September 7 United Aircraft Company (UAC) and “Aeroflot» signed under WEF an agreement of intent for the supply of 339 Russian-made aircraft until 2030. It involves the delivery of 210 MS-21 aircraft, 89 SSJ New aircraft and 40 Tu-214 aircraft to Aeroflot. The amount of the agreement amounted to more than 1 trillion rubles. It is planned that deliveries will begin as early as 2023, when two SSJ New aircraft will enter the group’s fleet.

According to the head of Rostec, Sergei Chemezov, domestic passenger liners will replace Boeing and Airbus aircraft, which are unlikely to ever be delivered to Russia. He added that almost 300 of the 339 aircraft were new-generation MS-21 and Superjet aircraft. All aircraft will be delivered in an import-substituted form, with Russian-made on-board units.

Earlier, the EU announced sanctions against the Russian transport sector, which include a ban on the sale of aircraft and aircraft parts, the EU Council said in a statement. Since March 28, contracts between European lessors and Russian companies have ceased to operate. The union banned the export to Russia of goods and technologies used in the aviation and space sectors, and also introduced a ban on insurance and maintenance of industry products.

Subscribe on “Vedomosti” in Telegram and stay up to date with the main news of the economy and business