Andreyev of the FSVT announces 11th November special meeting on providing leasing for the Russian aerospace industry with Klebanov

Published: 10/26/1999

Vladimir Andreyev, Director of the FSVT, has said that, on 11th November, the Russian government is to hold a special meeting on the creation of a state-supported aircraft-leasing system. Ilya Klebanov, Deputy Chairman in Putin's cabinet and responsible for the aerospace industry, will chair the meeting. He added that progress had been made in the past few months to reconcile the positions of aircraft manufacturers, banks and airlines on the terms of financial leasing of new Russian civil aircraft. Andreyev said that the first "trial" for the proposed system would be a deal between VASO in Voronezh and Aeroflot on the lease of six Il-96-300. The aircraft require a relatively small sum to complete and might be delivered to the user next year. The key bank for the deal has not yet been chosen, but it seems likely that the initial support will come from the Central Bank. Andreyev claimed that assessments of the market made by the FSVT, showed that up to ten Il-96s and 60-70 Tu-204/Tu-214s could be acquired by Russian operators on financial lease terms in the near future. In addition, Aviakor is ready to offer ten completed Tu-154Ms for sale through the proposed aircraft-leasing system, although Andreyev said that the factory first has to set a realistic price for "this …old design" before the proposal is taken seriously. One of the factors working against the sale of the newly Russian aircraft is excessive size and cheapness of the existing fleet. According to Andreyev, 1000 aircraft would be quite sufficient to meet the solvent demand on the market, whereas the Russian civil aviation inventory comprise 7500 aircraft, including 5000 airplanes of all types, which even taking into account non flying aircraft allows operators as number of options besides new aircraft. The role of the FSVT in the leasing process however, suggests that many of the existing fleet may find itself grounded more quickly if alternative options are available.

Article ID: 1012