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The meeting was attended by First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov, Deputy Prime Minister Yury Borisov, Presidential Aide Maxim Oreshkin, Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov, Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov, Minister of Transport Vitaly Savelyev, Minister of Finance Anton Siluanov, as well as heads of the Russian Union of Aviation Industrialists, the Ural Works of Civil Aviation, the Russian Helicopters holding company, the United Aircraft Corporation, Promsvyazbank, and Rostec State Corporation.

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President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon again, colleagues.

It is Mr Slyusar’s birthday. Many happy returns, one more event today.

We have just attended the opening of the 15^th International Aviation and Space Salon, toured some of the exhibits, seen new products from the Russian aviation industry, and talked with designers and manufacturers. As a matter of fact, some of our colleagues are also taking part in this meeting today, people actually working in the industry.

Let's discuss how the key projects in civil aircraft engineering are being implemented and review the comprehensive plan for the industry’s development until 2030.

We will consider factors that will shape the demand for aircraft in the next decade, the growth prospects for production capacity, and we will see how the corresponding part of the state order is progressing in this context.

For Russia, with its vast territory, civil aircraft engineering has always been and will always be one of the undisputed priorities, because this industry’s efficiency is key to various regions’ transport accessibility and connectivity, to greater passenger and cargo traffic, people’s mobility, Russia’s higher export potential, and of course, the stability of our aviation enterprises, research institutes and design bureaus that employ over 400,000 highly qualified specialists.

All these years, we focused on modernising the aviation industry, increasing its funding and making its products more competitive. We always focused on promoting priority civilian aircraft projects, primarily modern airliners. We are seeing them today: the MC-21 medium-haul airliner, the Sukhoi Superjet-100, the Ilyushin Il-114, L-410, the Baikal light multipurpose aircraft, as well as the Kamov Ka-62, Mil Mi-38, and Ansat helicopters.

Today, I would like to ask you to tell us about the certification of these aircraft, beginning of deliveries, production plans and the creation of a system of after-sales service.

I would like to repeat that it is important to ensure the stable and sustained operation of aircraft enterprises, especially as we continue dealing with the COVID-19 epidemic.

We held a meeting on aviation industry development in May 2020 for this, and we adopted additional measures for supporting the sector. The goal was to facilitate demand for Russian-made aircraft, including through state guarantees for the purchase of 59 Sukhoi Superjet-100 airliners and subsidies for reducing flight-hour maintenance costs, as well as the provision of state guarantees for the purchase of 66 Russian-made helicopters for the emergency airlift service.

Today, we will discuss the implementation of these decisions, review how many planes and helicopters have been purchased through state guarantee mechanisms, and discuss unresolved issues and other matters, if any. 

In addition, at the May meeting, the Government received instructions to draft and approve a programme for a state order for domestic civilian aircraft to 2030. Today, I would like to hear the status of this programme.

Let me repeat, it is necessary to clearly determine the future plans of aircraft producers up to at least 2030, as well as their responsibility for commitments on supply schedules, pricing, quality and servicing the equipment. It is essential to fund these plans properly from various sources. This is also one of the main items on our agenda today.

It is also necessary to draft proposals on supporting Russian-made aircraft sales and follow-up maintenance. This will ensure airline demand for these aircraft.

Of course, it is important to support performance reliability and the proper functionality of this new aircraft fleet, including by maintaining the schedules for the supply of engines and parts.

We have repeatedly talked about the need for this work, and I would like to ask you to report on your results in this important area.

Let’s move on to the discussion of these issues.

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