Ministry of Transport of Russia proposes subsidization of 3/4 of interest on bank loans to the banks, crediting the acquisition of foreign regional aircraft by Russian airlines, RBC reports. According to the Ministry, it should stimulate the renewal of airlines’ fleet.

"Subsidization of 3/4 of interest on bank loans while acquiring aircraft is a quite suitable mechanism. The bank credits carrier for acquiring aircraft with interest of 10-12%, the budget compensates 3/4 of it and the final customer has a credit with 2,5-3% rate on credit", - the Deputy Minister, Valery Okulov explained.

According to him, pecuniary institutions with state participation (VEB, VTB, Sberbank and Gazprombank) may act as creditors. "We have formed these proposals and we are starting to discuss them with the airlines (the first discussion has been held with the participation of UTair)", - he said.

The head of the Ministry, Igor Levitin, has proposed keeping the requirement of having at least three aircraft in the fleet for Russian airlines. According to him, a requirement of having at least 10 aircraft will be implemented for airlines performing regular flights using aircraft with 55 and more seats. Levitin has noted that the requirement regarding the number of aircraft is necessary in case one or several aircraft will be grounded.

The question of park renewal has been first raised by Dmitry Medvedev after the crash of Yak-42 under Yaroslavl. The president has demanded to radically decrease the number of active airlines in Russia and renew the airlines’ fleet. According to him, the priority in this question is lives of passengers instead of interests of Russia.

"The problem with the fleet exists and the government will probably take a hard decision. The value of life should be more important than support of the national aircraft industry", - he said. "I will instruct the government; it should be a large program and we will need a lot of money", - he added.