Ukraine may resume co-production of “Ruslan” plane
KIEV, June 27 (Itar-Tass) —— The setting up of a Russian-Ukrainian joint venture may be one of the ways to resume the manufacture of the super-heavy-duty An-124 “Ruslan” transport aircraft, Alexei lsaikin, the head of the Volga-Dnepr transport group, told Itar-Tass on Wednesday.
He said setting up the joint venture on a parity basis may become one of the ways toward resuming the production of the “Ruslan” aircraft. Isaikin said that establishing the joint enterprise may also help solve problems of intellectual property to the aircraft. The Volga-Dnepr and the Ukrainian “Antonov” corporation have already formed a working group dealing with matters of resuming the aircraft’s production. Isaikin said that experts of the US Boeing corporation had also been invited to the working group.
The An-124 super-heavy-duty transport aircraft was manufactured by the Ulyanovsk aircraft factory but its production has been discontinued. Meanwhile the demand for such aircraft does exist.
Isaikin also noted that the Volga-Dnepr also shows interest in the new Ukrainian An-70 transport aircraft. After its production is organized and the civilian variant of the aircraft emerges the company will consider the matter, looking into detail.
The Volga-Dnepr is a group of companies specializing in regular and charter freight transportation. Its fleet consists of An-124, Il-76 and Boeing-747 aircraft.
