Is Petrizhev to resign?

Published: 6/9/2000

According to reports in the Moscow daily, Kommersant, Victor Petrizhev, General Director of Samara-based Aviakor for the last three months, will resign when he returns from his vacation on 15th June, as part of management changes at the aircraft producer. At the time of his temporary appointment in February, Petrizhev, the plant's former Deputy Finance Director, was seen as a stopgap measure. His confirmation in the position in March surprised observers given the challenges that beset the plant The departure of Petrizhev will mark the third change in senior management at the plant since Siberian Aluminium (SA) took control of the plant in the spring of 1998. When SA replaced the incumbent Lev Khasis with Andrey Karklin, the plant's finance director, who inherited 31 areas of activity in the plant, of which only 7 were operating profitably. Karklin during his period in office endeavoured to bring the disparate organisation under unified control and utilise the plant's idle capacity by increasing the overhaul business for the Tu-154, produced by the plant. Since April 1998, ten Tu-154s have been overhauled by the plant and six aircraft are currently in progress. The improved business has had the effect of increasing the plant's turnover in 1999, but unfortunately for Karklin the improvement still left the plant in a perilous condition and led to his replacement by his deputy Petrizhev in February 2000. Over the last few months SA has made some dramatic decisions relating to the future of the Aviakor plant. In April they finally made the decision to close down the lingering production of the Tu-154M, which had been originally set for 2000 according to reports if the plant failed to secure at least seven new orders. The plant will therefore finish the balance of the order book of 12 aircraft by 2002 and then scale back their activities to the production of parts and repair of the 1000 aircraft built since the first production models flew in 1968, the latest variant the Tu-154M rolling out of Samara in 1984. According to the plant, 500 remain currently remain in service with operators in Russia and the CIS and elsewhere. Aviakor plans to replace the production of the Tu-154 with the assembly of two new aircraft, the An-70 and the An-140. Orders for the aircraft however remain thin, although the first production An-140 was delivered to Ukrainian Ikar Airlines recently from the aircraft's co-producer, the Kharkov plant, which is associated with the airline. The An-70 is also under some doubt given that the potential orders in Western Europe are now very unlikely and there are always doubts regarding the funding of Russian Air Force orders and reports of the air force's preference for the Il-76MF, which is seen as a cheaper and more readily available option for the replacement of the 300 aircraft Il-76 fleet. The company also plans to cooperate with RSK MiG on the production of the Tu-334. The relatively low revenue from existing repair and construction business for the plant was emphasised by Petrizkev's recent announcement of the formation of a clothing business in an effort to improve turnover and diversify the concern away from the aerospace industry. The poor condition of the plant's finances has also brought considerable tensions with the workforce, who recently went on strike demanding increases in the wages reported to be an average of $25 a month. There have also been cuts in the plant's utilities due to non-payment of debts. At present the plant's future lies with Siberian Aluminium's continued support and the innovative changes that will be required to bring it back on line by a new management team.

Article ID: 1853