The Ukrainian government is determined to start technological modernization of the national aircraft manufacturing industry in 2010, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said while visiting the Antonov research and production center on Thursday.
The financing of this ambitious goal has been estimated at UAH 3.5 billion, or $438 million, she said.
“Such money is not a problem,” Tymoshenko said, adding that this
figure is incomparable to the amount of financing that is currently
being allocated to support the Ukrainian financial sector.
The prime minister praised the implementation of a
government-initiated program of the industry’s financial rejuvenation,
which, she said, should be completed by the end of 2009.
The key goals facing the Ukrainian aircraft manufacturing industry
include the promotion of its products to foreign markets in cooperation
with foreign partners, particularly Russia and China, Tymoshenko said.
“We are gradually getting closer to those who are our strategic
partners on world markets,” Tymoshenko said. She particularly mentioned
significance of agreements with Russia on cooperation in the aircraft
manufacturing sector, including on the An-148 program.
Tymoshenko praised the Antonov center’s work, which, as she put it,
“is keeping together” the entire industry. This is why the government
gives priority to the center’s transition to a modern level of
designing based on state-of-the-art technology, she said.
Industrial Policy Minister Volodymyr Novytsky told Interfax a
program for technological modernization of the aircraft manufacturing
industry should be implemented within 3-4 years through purchases of
imported equipment.
“The final parameters and the sources of financing are being worked on,” he said.
