Aleksandr Lebedev, a prominent Russian entrepreneur and owner of the National Reserve Corporation, is pictured as seeking a deal on exchange of its stake in Aeroflot for 44 newly-built Tupolev narrow body jets.
The entrepreneur may sell its stake in the Russian flag carrier to raise requisite funding for acquisition of the Tupolev aircraft. Speaking to the Russian media earlier this week, Lebedev said he is ready to sell his stake in Aeroflot “for a good price” taking advantage of the Russian airline industry being on rise in 2010 and early 2011. Market conditions are good for such a sale, he insisted.
The money that may come from it could be used in support of the ailing local aircraft manufacturers. Namely, the Aviastar-SP aviation plant suffering from underfunding and shortage of solvent demand in its products. Lebedev is ready to buy a quantity of newly assembled Russian jets at a price of one billion each, which he believes is the right price for the Tupolev narrow body. The airplanes will then be placed with Red Wings, an airline owned by the National Reserve Corporation. Today, Red Wings is the largest Tu-204 operator.
A preliminary agreement on the matter was signed in December 2010, during the campaign aimed at rescue of the ailing Tu-204 project. That time certain top managers in the Russian aircraft manufacturing industry insisted that the Tu-204 production at Aviastar-SP must be discontinued on financial grounds. Lebedev and Ilyushin Finance Co., Russia’s largest aircraft lessor, said they would order a sufficient number of improved Tu-204SM aircraft if the industry finds ways to decrease manufacturing costs and improve manufacturing quality.
Earlier Lebedev stated he would not pay more than Rouble 750 million per airframe because the manufacturer’s after sales support was not good enough, as well as availability of spare parts and depreciation rates. Now, when the industry giving new promises, such as that to provide respective guarantees on after-sales support, the entrepreneur is “ready” to pay more than previously.