Russia is considering protectionist measures to help bolster its ailing civil-aerospace industry and has called for specific support for the country's main commercial-aircraft and engine manufacturers.
A Government meeting chaired by Alexei Bolshakov, the first deputy prime minister, on 19 October reviewed and approved proposals from a working group led by Yuriy Glybin, deputy minister of the defence industry .The programme, however, would require massive financial support, amounting to some $2.4 billion. The ability of the Government to provide such funding is in doubt.
The programme calls for the Government to lend support to six civil-aircraft manufacturing plants: Kazan, Novosibirsk, Samara, Saratov, Ulyanovsk and Voronezh. The Perm engine plant, which produces the PS-90, is also included. Previously, Russia had looked at broader industry-wide support for aerospace, rather than selecting specific operations for help.
Among the support on offer is the transfer of "social" responsibilities for such areas as hospitals, canteens, and nurseries away from the production plants to their local authorities.
The measures also include insistence that the sale of Western civil aircraft, power plants, or avionics be accompanied by favourable offset agreements, otherwise such contracts would not be approved by the Government.
Source: Flight International