Management changes at Sukhoi mark a change of guard at the top which will achieve change, but slowly

Published: 6/10/1999

On May 29th-30th 1999, the annual shareholders meeting of OKB (“experimental design bureau") Sukhoi joint-stock company appointed Mr Mikhail Pagosyan as General Director. Mr Pagosyan replaces Mr Mikhail Simonov, who returns to the position of General Designer at OKB Sukhoi. This is Mr Pagosyan"s second appointment as General Director. He is also General Director of AVPK (“aviation military industrial complex") Sukhoi: a post he acquired two years ago, replacing Mr Aleksei Fiodorov. The shareholders" choice of Mr Pagosyan came as a shock to the “old guardians" of the design bureau, most of whom acquired their positions during Mr Simonov"s reign. Mr Pagosyan, who is over 20 years younger than Mr Simonov, represents a new generation of designers and managers. Before becoming General Director at AVPK Sukhoi, he was the chief designer for the S-37 Berkut, an experimental fifth generation fighter with forward-swept wing. Mr Pagosyan also supervised the S-21 supersonic business jet project. Although he considers himself as Simonov"s pupil, he considers that, in the last few years, Mr Simonov played a negative role as a leader of Sukhoi team, by preserving the status quo. Historically, Mr Pagosyan has opposed Mr Simonov over ambitious projects, such as the KR-860 super large double-decker passenger plane, considering these to be “a waste of financial and intellectual resources". As AVPK General Director, he has often refused Simonov"s requests for approval of various bold investment projects, especially when pay-back could not be guaranteed. Within the design bureau, Mr Pagosyan is known to be a strong supporter of intensive development of new basic aircraft for the military market, most notably the S-37 Berkut and LFS (Light Front-line Aircraft). As the chief designer of the S-37, he clashed with Mr Nikitin (now acting VPK MAPO General Director), who championed the thesis that the modernisation of the Su-27should be given priority over all other projects. A professional engineer, Mr Pagosyan tends to endorse new, promising ideas in aircraft building, and that of smooth reforms as a manager. As AVPK Sukhoi General Director, he has made no radical changes, partly owing to the vague nature of its structure. Mr Pagosyan"s modest achievements in this respect were often criticised by Mr Simonov, with his tendency to maintain things as they are, so as to keep the leading role of the design bureau within the AVPK Sukhoi union. It is expected that Mr Pagosyan will be a “quiet" General Director, preferring incremental changes to major reforms. He may also make Sukhoi politics in project management more pragmatic and oriented towards the guaranteed return of investments. In part, this will be determined by the fact that Mr Pagosyan is not so widely known and deeply respected in the Russian aviation industry and high political spheres as his predecessor.

Article ID: 575