The head of the department of Presidential affairs Vladimir Kozhin told Kommersant that he disagrees with criticism of the Russian president’s fleet from the foreign press.

The edition reminds that the Swiss newspapers have laughed over Russian president’s “noisy and dirty” aircraft during president’s visit to Switzerland. They have also stated that if it was not the president’s aircraft, it will not be allowed to fly in Europe. «I disagree with it. We just can not have “dirty” jets. Speaking about engines, there are special ICAO regulations in several categories, the strictest one – Category 3 is active for civil aircraft. All the jets from the special aviation group “Russia”, flying to Europe while servicing the president or any officials, are certified in accordance with ICAO regulations category 3. It does not matter who is flying: president, Prime-minister, etc. These engines are manufactured by Perm Engine Company. These requirements are constantly changing and becoming stricter, the fourth category regulations will become active soon and we are preparing for this. Thus we are carrying out serious modernization of engines», - said Kozhin.

Vladimir Kozhin has also confirmed the acquisition of two Airbus А319s and two Agusta Westland helicopters by the department of Presidential affairs. «Plus we have two Falcons. The president uses Falcon when flying a short route and landing at small airfield. Our country just does not produce the jets of such class. Only the old ones, they must be retired. This class is absolutely absent in Russia today. We will surely acquire Russian jets of the class when they appear. There is no point in using Il-96 or Tu-214 on route like Moscow-St. Petersburg or Moscow-Nizhny Novgorod, it is just a waste of money. That is why we have acquired Falcons. As for Airbus, there is a different problem. Our aircraft industry is not able to deal with our orders. The decision regarding our fleet renewal has been made in 2001 and we have come to a conclusion that almost every jet should be replaced. Thus we are carrying out modernization and acquiring new jets. We have ordered a batch of new jets but the industry can not make it in time, besides it often lets us down. We should have acquired two new Tu-214s two years ago, but we are acquiring them at the moment. As for Airbus jets, their operation would be primarily connected with advanced groups, etc. The president may also use them if there is a need», - added Vladimir Kozhin.