First Congress of Russian Aviation Industrialists gains government support

Published: 7/8/1999

In his address of the First Congress of Russian Aviation Industrialists, which opened on the 30th June 30th 1999, Sergei Stepashin, Prime Minister of Russia, said that: “the development of the aviation industry is one of the priority tasks for the Russian government…aimed at reviving this country"s economy and getting it out of its protracted crisis state." Most of the Russian aerospace industry, including the newly established Russian Aerospace Agency, the Aviaprom export agency and the Ministry of Defence, has supported the conference. A wide range of interested parties, including the Presidential Administration, government ministers, the Federal Assembly, as well as those ministries and government departments with aviation responsibilities, has also attended it. The conference agenda included the following: ·repayment of debts on the state defence order; ·writing off arrears to the federal budget; ·settlement of the mutual non-payments problem; ·prospects for the development of the Russian aviation ·the creation of aircraft leasing; ·increasing state support for research and development; ·increased funding for the federal development programs The current opinion of the congress" participants on the present state of the industry was summed up in a statement released by the conference. This read: 'Without immediate intervention on the part of the highest authorities, the crisis in the aviation industry will continue to worsen, which may lead to the disintegration of the industry and the loss of the country"s defence capacity'. Yury Bardin, Chairman of Aviaprom, remarked in his report to the conference that the output of military aircraft is 17 times lower than it was in 1991, with military helicopters five times lower, military missiles 23 times lower, and civil aircraft, 15 times lower. Many aerospace companies and facilities are now operating on a half-time basis and salaries within the industry are now two times lower than average wage rates in Russian industry as a whole. The conference supported the government"s measures to organise a system of state regulation in the aviation industry. It was felt that it was essential for the government to set priorities for the industry through the President"s program for the development of civil and aviation aircraft in Russia by 2000. In order to prevent uncontrolled growth of projects and the dilution of available resources, it was recommended that the regional financing of projects that are not involved in the President"s program should only take place 'after they are considered by the joint scientific-technical board of the Russian Aerospace Agency and the Federal Air Transport Service.' The latter move appears to be an effort on the part of the new Aerospace Agency to keep control of the plethora of projects in various stages of conception .For the agency this will be a challenge given the design bureau"s love of new projects and the desire of many of Russia"s regions to retain their aerospace manufacturing capability regardless of its viability.

Article ID: 664