Aviakor's production of An-70 in doubt

Published: 6/29/2000

The election of the new chairman of Aviakor has highlighted some of the problems facing the Samara-based producer. The new chairman, Andrey Konstantinov, is the Director of the Department of Corporate Relations of Sibirsky Aluminium, Aviakor's controlling shareholder. Konstantinov's first instruction to Vladimir Belogub, the newly appointed General Director, was to develop within a month, a plan to avert the current crisis besetting the plant and a longer term business plan. The previous incumbent of the General Director's chair, Victor Petrishchev, tendered his resignation, but was offered the post of Deputy General Director dealing with finance, a position he previously held and newly accepted. The workforces, who were reported to be planning strike action over the change of senior managers, have greeted the retention of Petrishchev favourably. To assist in the creation of a recovery plan, Konstantinov has drafted in a group of aviation experts including inexplicably A.Systsov, the ex-minister of Aviation of the USSR, which suggests that any possible solutions may not be that radical. The challenge for the new management will be the commitment made to the production of the An-140 and the An-70. Neither of the aircraft have substantive orders, or in the case of the An-70, any orders at all other than vague suggestions of interest from the Russian and Ukrainian Air Forces. The latter situation has been made worse by both the recent collapse of interest from Germany and an increasingly frequently expressed view by the Russian military and recently rumoured to have been discussed by Igor Sergueyev , Defence Minister, at a recent meeting at TAPO, that the stretched Il-76MF may be a cheaper and more operationally efficient option for Russia. This is an option made more attractive by the much higher Russian content (85%) in contrast to the Ukrainian-led An-70 programme which, even after construction, could cause continuing problems, as glimpsed recently by the unholy row surrounding the argument over life extensions for An-124s, for which the Antonov bureau holds the design rights, as it will the An-70. Recently reported Chinese interest in the An-70 may mollify matters. However, the plant is confronted with a reasonable outlook on overhaul of the Tu-154 fleet in service but a steady decline in new builds as the Tu-154 line is wound down and the alternative sources of revenue do not appear at first review to provide the answer.

Article ID: 1888