The government decided to provide assistance to the national aircraft industry by means of placing a large order. Next year it intends to sign a contract with United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) on delivery of 130 civil aircraft (the total value of this contract is assessed at 200 billion rubles), Vedomosti reports. 

The consolidated order has almost been formed by the Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Internal Affairs, EMERCOM, Federal Security Service and Presidential Administration. The state agencies are ready to order 130 aircraft with a total value of 200 billion rubles, said Yuri Slusar, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade. This refers to deliveries of An-148, SuperJet-100, Tu-204SМand Il-476 (freighter) aircraft, UAC confirms. The deliveries should be completed by 2018. The sources did not unveil any details of the contracts.

It is a very large order for UAC. The company manufactured 13 aircraft last year and over 20 ones – in 2012. UAC has the order backlog of around 400 aircraft.

The government officials have started discussing the consolidated order back in October. Ministry of Defense (MoD) was considered as the major customer. The army will put 80 civil aircraft out of service by 2018. The basis of the MoD’s fleet is formed by outdated Tu-134, Tu-154, Il-62 and even Il-18 aircraft. The worn-out state and low fuel efficiency of these aircraft cause the loss of $20-30 million per year, said the Minister of Industry and Trade, Denis Manturov. He suggested leasing of such aircraft (the first payment from the federal budget may be about 20% of the aircraft’s price). The rest money will paid gradually during operation of the aircraft. «Such scheme is currently being elaborated with the participation of state leasing companies», — Slusar said. The budget does not have enough money to pay for the whole order. The representatives of VEB leasing and Sberbank leasing were not available for comments. A source close to VEB believes that it would be very difficult to implement this scheme, because 200 million rubles is a lot of money.

According to a source close to the Ministry of Defense, the armed forces are interested in deliveries of Tu-204 and An-148 aircraft. MoD does not intend to purchase foreign aircraft.