Ukraine`s state-owned enterprise Antonov, the only Ukrainian designer and manufacturer of cargo and passenger planes, needs to raise $703.2 million to launch full-scale production of aircraft, according to news portal LІGA.net.
This issue was on the agenda of a meeting on the aviation industry, which was chaired by Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman, LIGA.net reported.
In the past five years (from 2011 to nine months of 2016), the company has produced and sold 16 aircraft: six An-132, four An-148 and six An-158, LIGA.net said.
The company`s management appealed to the prime minister for assistance.
”Over the past decade, no single plane was built with profitability,” President of the Ukrainian Aircraft Company (UAC) Mykhailo Hvozdiov said.
”We have the conceptual design of a new aircraft to be built without Russian components and there are markets for it. We know how to cost-effectively produce this aircraft. But none of the buyers will buy the aircraft if the state where it is built is uninterested. It`s not much about money but about assistance in setting up a leasing company so that these planes could fly,” he said.
According to Hvozdiov, the company has found all the necessary components to replace the Russian-made ones, but it needs $77.5 million for a final decision on local content in Ukraine and procurements abroad. In addition, Antonov needs money to upgrade production facilities. In total, the company needs $703.2 million to start large-scale production in 2018.
Also, Antonov expects to receive a state order for aircraft from Ukrainian government agencies. Now the company has a contract with the Defense Ministry to build three versions of An-148.
If the company manages to attract financing, Antonov will be ready to release nearly 100 aircraft in 2018-2021: 60 An-148/158, 18 An-178 and 18 An-132.
Groysman in turn instructed to prepare a program for the development of the aviation industry: ”It should be a medium-term program. With clear goals: who, what and when should be done. And everyone has to bear responsibility. It is a program of the development of aviation in the military and civil sectors. There should be a set of measures aimed at launching mass production.”
In January, the government is ready to take certain decisions aimed at supporting aviation industry, the prime minister said. ”We will find the money,” he promised.
