UPDATE: Ukraine’s Antonov halts production due to broken ties with Russia

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KIEV, Sep 12 (PRIME) -- Ukrainian aircraft producer Antonov has suspended jet production due to halted cooperation with Russia, Andrei Khaustov, deputy director of the company’s department for advanced development, told Vesti radio station on Monday.

After relations with Russia worsened due to a conflict in southeastern Ukraine Antonov decided to break production ties with Russian companies and switched to import substitution of components.

“Now, even if we wanted to produce an aircraft, we have a number of unfinished jets, which stay in workshops, we have to replace all Russian components with components of other producers, we will not say that these should by all means be Western, these can be Ukrainian as well,” Khaustov said.

The company is currently looking for a replacement of Russian components on the Ukrainian and foreign markets and does not plan to produce jets in 2016, he said.

Antonov President Alexander Kotsyuba said the company plans to complete a program to replace Russian components in 2017.

“Next year, we plan to complete an import substitution program of Russian components, which we started in the summer of 2015. We have already reached relevant agreements with suppliers from European countries, Canada, the U.S. and Ukraine. After that a serial production of new planes will be set up,” he said.

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