Official: Russia needs back-up suppliers to produce SSJ75s

CERNOBBIO, Italy, Sep 6 (PRIME) -- Russia has to duplicate all aircraft system suppliers to ensure backup before the start of production of Sukhoi Superjet 75 (SSJ75) planes, a shorter version of SSJ100 aircraft, to avoid speculations and economic blackmail, Deputy Industry and Trade Minister Oleg Bocharov told PRIME on Friday.

On Tuesday, Vladislav Filyov, owner and chairman of the board of directors of S7 Group, told Vedomosti business daily that the ministry rejected the idea of creation of a 75-seated Sukhoi Superjet because of no demand.

“This information is incorrect,” Bocharov said.

Superjet is a great plane, and the only complaint of its owners is that its maintenance is expensive, he said.

“Regarding the date of the launch (of the shorter version), we should first introduce duplication of all suppliers of systems in order to prevent economic blackmail. What good would it do for us if we create a shorter version using foreign components and again become dependent on speculations? We don’t want that,” he said.

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