PRESS: Russia may merge UAC, Irkut, Sukhoi Civil Aircraft

MOSCOW, Aug 30 (PRIME) -- Russia may merge aircraft producers Sukhoi Civil Aircraft, Irkut and United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) to act as a corporate center of the corporation and manage civil projects like Sukhoi Superjet 100 (SSJ100) and MC-21 planes, Kommersant business daily reported on Wednesday.

Sources in the aviation industry told Kommersant that creation of a new company on the basis of civil aviation segment of the corporation marks the government’s support of the civil segment at a time when the state defense order is contracting.

A source close to UAC told Kommersant that the corporation did not have enough money to develop individual companies. The merger will become the first step toward a transfer to a single  share, and the aviation industry expects UAC to save about 50 billion rubles with the merger.

UAC President Yury Slyusar will also lead Irkut, and the two companies will be in charge of production of civil aircraft, while Sukhoi Civil Aircraft will manage marketing, sales, and post-sale servicing of the planes.

After the merger, Irkut will focus solely on production of MC-21 planes until 2022, and SSJ100 planes will become part of the MC-21 type planes. The government and UAC are also discussing creation of a new plane on the basis of SSJ100, Kommersant said.

In the military sector, all programs excluding Yak-130 and Yak-152 planes will be transferred to aircraft producer Sukhoi, and UAC will consolidate assets of Sukhoi and MiG, as well as form a united design bureau.

The boards of directors of UAC, Sukhoi Civil Aircraft and Irkut will formalize the decisions on Friday.

End %%md/jst%%