Such a decision was dictated by the dramatical changes in the political situation and the default of 1998, and after the American partners, Pratt & Whitney, withdrew from the project of the creation of a long-haul passenger aircraft IL-96M with PW2337 engines. As a result, the Voronezh Aircraft Manufacturing Enterprise (VASO) was left without orders and financing, having several ready-made serial fuselages from the IL-96-300 and IL-96T in varying degrees of readiness.

President of the IFC Alexander Rubtsov and the General Director of OAO «Aviation Complex named after Av. S.V. Ilyushin» Viktor Livanov

At that time, the Ulyanovsk aircraft building enterprise, Aviastar-SP, whose capacities designed to produce dozens of Tu-204 per month were idle, which actually threatened the plant with bankruptcy, wasn’t in the best financial condition.

It became obvious that without the presence of a modern designated financial and leasing structure operating on the basis of modern world standards on the Russian market, it was absolutely impossible to continue building aircraft and attract money and customers to the aviation industry.

During the time before the creation of the IFC, there were practically no established mechanisms for leasing aircraft in Russia. Therefore, the creation of an aviation leasing company was a definite innovation in our country, and the IFC was one of the first companies in this field.

Having seen good prospects for the development of domestic aviation enterprises, from 2000 to 2001 the share capital of the IFC was entered consecutively by: the National Reserve Bank and Vnesheconombank. Also in 2001, the IFC became a participant in the state program for the development of leasing in Russia. The company won a tender for state support of air leasing in Russia, and a controlling stake in the IFC was transferred to the state. As a result, by 2003, the share of the Russian Federation (together with VEB) increased to 54.6%.

Thus, in the absence of government orders and budget financing, the activities of the IFC, whose general director was Alexander Rubtsov, allowed the largest aircraft factories in Voronezh and Ulyanovsk to avoid bankruptcy, stop the outflow of qualified personnel and resume production of long-haul aircraft.

The first investment agreement was signed between the IFC and VASO in 2001. From October 2002 to August 2005, 56.3% of the plant’s shares were in the trust management of the IFC. As a result of this cooperation, the financial position of the company improved significantly: overdue arrears in payments to budgets and extra-budgetary funds of all levels were fully repaid, and VASO revenue and sales profit increased several times due to the resumption of IL-96 production.

It was possible to stop a sharp decline in the number of employees. The average salary of factory workers has increased 2.5 times, tax payments have sharply increased, incl. to the federal budget - 4 times, to the regional and local budgets - 1.6 times, to extra-budgetary funds - 3 times.

A similar picture evolved on Aviastar-SP. For several years, the IFC invested about 600 million dollars in the production of Tu-204 airplanes of various modifications, which allowed the company to survive a possible liquidation.

The result of the work on attracting financing to the civil aviation industry and introducing a new leasing mechanism on the Russian market was the first delivery of Tu-204 aircraft to Russian customers, which took place in 2003, and Il-96-300 aircraft - in 2004.

In 2005, the first for the entire post-Soviet period, the delivery of a domestic aircraft abroad took place - the IFC exported Il-96-300 aircraft to Cuba, using the export credit facility under the state program to support the export of Russian high-tech products.

At this stage, it became clear that the domestic aviation industry is not ready to provide modern support for the operation of aircraft, since even the USSR was the concern of the airlines themselves - the Ministry of Civil Aviation, and not the aviation industry. The modern world dictated other conditions. The manufacturer must accompany the operation of the aircraft throughout its life cycle.

Therefore, for the full operation of the supplied Russian aircraft, the IFC organised its own effective system of after-sales service for aircraft in Russia and abroad. This competence, to this day, allows the leasing company to be the only lessor on the Russian market who can remarket previously delivered domestic aircraft, including the transformation from one aircraft type to another.

The IFC took an active part in the creation of the “UAC Non-Profit Partnership”, which was later transformed into United Aircraft Building Corporation PJSC, combining the country's main aircraft construction assets. In 2007, the IFC shares in the amount of 48.4% owned by the Russian state were transferred to PJSC UAC, and the IFC became part of the new corporation.

An important historical stage in the development of the company was the joint work with UAC on organising the mass production of regional An-148 aircraft at VASO. The aircraft were built for commercial operators, and are now being built and delivered to government customers, such as the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the Federal Security Service and others.

The Signing of a firm contract with the Red Wings for the supply of 16 MC-21-300 aircraft

For the training of qualified flight technical and engineering personnel, the IFC organised a designated company - IFC Training LLC, which further expanded its list of services, including, in addition to the An-148, training of crews for other types of domestic aircraft. Thus, the IFC managed to create a complete system of comprehensive after-sales service for domestic aircraft, including technical support and training of flight and technical personnel.

At the same time, the IFC assists airlines in maintaining and remarketing previously delivered aircraft of the An-148, Tu-204 and Il-96 family, demonstrating to the market the ability to carefully and efficiently manage assets.

Over the years, despite the enormous difficulties, the IFC managed to preserve and secure orders with key enterprises of the civilian sector of the aviation industry and deliver over 60 domestic aircraft of various types to customers.

And today, the company continues to play an important role in providing financing and orders for new generation aircraft. The IFC order book for new aircraft, including the MC-21 and SSJ, exceeds 70 units.

The editorial staff of AVIA.RU congratulate the team of Ilyushin Finance Co. and its manager, Alexander Ivanovich Rubtsov, on their jubilee and wish them even greater success in providing airlines with domestic aircraft and supporting our aviation industry.