You're reading: Honored test pilots hope Poroshenko supports protection of Antonov chief designer Kiva

A group of Ukrainian honored test pilots has sent an open letter to the head of state Petro Poroshenko asking to retain the possibility of developing Ukrainian aviation industry and reinstating Dmytro Kiva as chief designer of Antonov State Enterprise (Kyiv) dismissed by the government.

“It’s painful to see how indifference the state leadership to the employees of the flagship of the Ukrainian aircraft building sector – Antonov State Enterprise. Why again someone’s personal interests are stronger than experience, professionalism and honesty? Why without a trial is a real Hero of Ukraine, Dmytro Kiva, being dismissed from the post?” reads the letter.

The test pilots said that for Ukraine as a whole the operation of Antonov State Enterprise means provision of thousands of jobs at 34 enterprises-partners, millions in payments to the budget, the image of a country that has high-tech solutions, a reliable partner in the aviation industry, the integrator of efforts of some countries in the realization of common aviation projects, and the raising of creative and technically competent young people.

The open letter to the Ukrainian president was signed by test pilots Leonid Kadeniuk, Oleksandr Halunenko, Serhiy Troshyn and USSR Heroes, Honored USSR and Ukraine test pilots Yuriy Kurlin and Valeriy Mihunov.

Kiva was dismissed from the post of board chairman of the Antonov State Concern under cabinet resolution No. 340 of April 9. The reasons of the dismissal are not given in the document. According to the enterprise, the Cabinet of Ministers under a proposal of the Industrial Policy Minister of the former government has approved the cancellation of a contract with Kiva as chief designer of Antonov State Enterprise.

The non-public agreement of brothers Kliuyev with Russia is behind the plans to dismiss Kiva, which was inked in 2013, the sector believes. The core of the agreement is that the air-transport enterprise is removed from Antonov State Enterprise: An-124-100 Ruslan aircraft are put into the Russian bank as collateral and then they are bought by Russia.

The air transport enterprise – Ukraine’s Antonov Airlines – is the world’s leading operators of the An-124-100 Ruslan aircraft, which has a cargo capacity of 150 tonnes.

Since 2006, partners have been participating in the НАТО SALIS (Strategic Airlift Interim Solution). In December 2012, NATO prolonged the contract for leasing of Ukrainian and Russian Ruslan aircraft until Dec. 31, 2014.

Employees of Antonov State Enterprise on April 18 held a rally in protest against the Ukrainian government’s dismissal of Kiva. In June, over 2,000 employees of Antonov State Enterprise held a rally near the Presidential Administration of Ukraine.