Lease company head confident of orders(306 words)

Published: 4/9/2001

According to Evgeny Zaritsky, General Director of ZAO Financial Lease Company (FLC), he expects potential demand for over 30 Tu-214 produced by KAPO. While reluctant to name potential operators, Zaritsky said that his company was already in negotiation with Russia's top ten airline regarding acquiring the aircraft and three have already moved discussions further for the aircraft Registered in 1997, FLK's major shareholder is oil company Tatneft, or more correctly the government of Tatarstan, Moscow based Bank Zenit, that happens to be Tatneft's bank, and other undisclosed investors. Founded to undertake leasing in the oil and gas industry, the aircraft involvement has come as a result of the heavy commitment on the part of the Tatarstan Government to the development of the Tu-214 at KAPO. In order to remain a viable aircraft leasing entity after the government announced its support for the activity would be limited to companies with a capitalization at least $100m, FLC went into a joint venture with Tatarstan based KAPO, Pulkovo, GTK Rossiya, and International Bank St Petersburg. KAPO confirmed that in 2001, it would supply 4 Tu-214s for Dalavia and Rossiya, and had an MoU for two aircraft with Krasair, with over 20 airlines interested in leasing the aircraft. As a result of the sales of the aircraft KAPO revenues in 2001 should exceed Rb1.8bn ($65m) according to the company. Foreign sales may also be emerging with reports that on the 4th of April the Slovakian Deputy Minister of Economics Panik Voitekh visited Tatarstan and discussed the possibility of buying g the aircraft. The Slovakians are however, the perpetual customer of the Russian producers and have also been mentioned as buyers of the Tu-334. Their airline industry is also just recovering from a crisis at the end of 1999 that led the government to seize the aircraft of the national carrier.

Article ID: 2477