Voronezh – Ukraine and Russia should join efforts to prepare and sign an intergovernmental agreement on the provision of government support for the resumption of An-124 aircraft production, Economic Development and Trade Minister Petro Poroshenko has said.
"The issue is whether the Cabinet of Ministers and the Government of the Russian Federation are ready to sign the agreement about the implementation of measures of government support for the resumption of the An-124’s production. The governments of Ukraine and Russia need to unite their efforts," he said during the 10th session of Ukrainian- Russian Interparliamentary Cooperation Commission in Voronezh on Monday.
The minister also noted the need to work together on the current issues of aircraft engineering – in particular, on the joint production of the An-148 and its various types.
According to Poroshenko, these aircraft are very expensive to produce, so their production cost has to be reduced.
He also said that the work on the An-70 aircraft project should be completed.
According to the Ukrainian minister, together with Russian counterparts it is necessary to decide on the sources and amounts of funding for the preparations for the mass production of these aircraft.
Ukraine is currently preparing a bill to amend the budget to finance the production of the An-70 aircraft, Poroshenko said. According to him, two An-70 planes are currently being assembled.
