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Support the paSSenger! 20 

Open Region 

august 2012 Ulyanovsk economic magazine 

Load on “digit” 23 

in uLyanovSk “bLack” technoLogieS are appLied! 32 

head hunting 46

We are engaged in aviation cLuSter deveLopment 

Ulyanovsk region 

development Corporation 

41, Ryleeva str., Ulyanovsk, 432071 

http://ulregion.com 

e‑mail: info@ulregion.com 

General Director 

Ryabov Dmitry Aleksandrovich 

Executive Director 

Vasin Sergey Nikolayevich 

+7 (8422) 444573 

Work with foreign and russian investors 

Deputy General Director 

Ryabikov Igor Vladimirovich 

+7 (8422) 444852 

Building, design, and land planning 

Deputy General Director 

Blokhin Valery Petrovich 

+7 (8422) 440041 

projects in the field of public — 

private partnership, organization 

of financing infrastructure projects 

Strategic projects department Director 

Lukyanova Natalia Vladislavovna 

+7 (8422) 444839 

Ulyanovsk regional 

government 

1, Lenin square, Ulyanovsk, 432700 

Ulyanovsk region minister of strategic 

development and innovations 

Smekalin Aleksandr Aleksandrovich 

+7 (8422) 412590 

department of modernization 

and development of regional economy 

http://invest.ulgov.ru 

e‑mail: invest@ulgov.ru 

Department Director 

Davlyatshin Rustem Takhirovich 

+7 (8422) 414623 

department of sectoral development 

Head of the department 

Musorin Pavel Vyacheslavovich 

+7 (8422) 412648 

regional state institUtion 

development of aviation 

ClUster of the Ulyanovsk 

region 

20, Kuznetsova str., Ulyanovsk,432071 

http://ul‑avia.ru/ 

e‑mail: avia‑klaster@mail.ru 

Director 

Sarychev Yury Aleksandrovich 

+7 (8422) 418706 

international air 

transport forUm 

management 

region vektor ltd. 

http://www.ul‑avia.com/ 

e‑mail: contact@ul‑avia.com, info@ul‑avia.com 

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office in moscow: office 16; 

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Open Region 3 

Editorial 

Contents 

About the principal 

“There are some good 

prospecTs” 

UAC President Mihail 

Pogosyan about today and 

tomorrow of russian aircraft 

constructing ....................р. 4 

From the first person 

To coNQUer oUrselves 

Ulyanovsk region Governor: 

can the region develop 

aviation all by itself .........р. 8 

Tendency 

UlyaNovsk woUld like 

To help moscow 

Multimodal transportations 

seek the optimum route р. 12 

Deceleration of the future 

rUslaN is awaiTiNg 

a visa 

What are the reasons for 

the delay of starting 

the project ......................р. 15 

For the first time 

whaT shoUld The New 

aN‑24 be like ..............р. 18 

(infographics) 

Local time 

regioNs sTrive iNTo The 

sky 

The ways and the barriers 

of regional aviation 

development ..................р. 20 

At the start 

braNd wiTh a glass 

cockpiT 

What is awaited from the 

“digital” IL‑76MD‑90A ....р. 23 

For the first time 

how does deeply 

moderNized il‑76 

differ from The 

previoUs versioNs ..р. 26 

(infographics) 

To the park! 

comforT zoNe 

Residents go to 

the ready sites ...............р. 28 

New technologies 

UNder a composiTe 

wiNg 

Know‑how for МS‑21 ......р. 32 

Synergy 

aviaTors demaNd 

a check 

MRO comes to the 

market and becomes 

attractive ........................р. 34 

Experience 

aviaTioN clUsTer 

has reached The level 

of recoNsideraTioN 

How many years 

did it take to form 

real interaction ..............р. 37 

Federal line 

The climaTe is Tailored 

To The sTaNdard 

Unified approach 

to investors rests on the 

“manual control” ...........р. 39 

Results 

The regioN collecTs a 

“harvesT” 

Image and subject — who 

works for who ................р. 42 

Staff 

head hUNTiNg 

On what grounds should 

professionals be grown ..р. 44 

Aviation draft 

Take me To The army! 

Ulyanovsk wants 

to try a new type 

of aviation professional 

guidance ........................р. 47 

BEforE tHE takEoff 

Sergey TiTov 

Have you ever seen how the plane 

crew is working before the takeoff and 

further until the plane gets off the land? 

It is worth being described. Long ago, in 

the times when I was a senior engineer 

of an aviation detachment, on the line of 

duty I took part not once in the control 

and test flights of airplanes and helicopters, being close to the 

pilots. And I always admired precise and well — coordinated work of 

the crew and all the services interacting with them while preparing 

for takeoff. The commander, copilot, flight engineer, aircraft and air 

traffic controllers, and the machine were like one body. Maximum 

concentration, compression of a complex process into a very short 

time period when every second counts, and an error is impermis‑ 

sible for anyone. Interaction was worked out up to automaticity. 

At the same time there was complete mutual understanding at 

a single glance, word, hand movement, for the initial conditions 

(weather, equipment behavior, environment) could change every 

second, and everyone understood that even one wrong act or 

delay, lack of understanding among the participants in a single 

process could lead to unwanted effect, having changed the fate 

of the upcoming flight. 

It seems today that russian aviation is at some new starting point. 

After many years of uncertainty now there are more clearly set goals 

and a generally defined route (aviation development program until 

2025), the flight leader has already commanded takeoff (state‑ 

ments of the first and second figures in the state about developing 

aviation industry and civil aviation). And then everything may seem 

to be quite simple: engine control lever on the takeoff mode, the 

economy fuel (financial flows) is coming to the engines, gaining 

momentum, removing the brake and — forward and upward… but 

whether the flight will take place, or it will be one more idle stroke 

along the runway, will depend on that very well — coordinated work 

of the crew in conditions of changing weather and environment. It 

should be mentioned that the weather is not most favorable: avia‑ 

tion industry still does not know how it will be able to work under 

conditions of WTO, the air fleet of the soviet production is getting 

outdated, developing its designated resource, sooner or later the 

carriers will have to decide what airplanes to buy. And, alas, the 

cost of small series russian aircraft is relatively high, and the view 

of airlines is getting focused on western machines. The carriers 

themselves are pressed by high cost of fuel, airport service, etc. 

Meanwhile, the airports would be glad to make their prices lower, 

but for this end they need more flights… and at the same time one 

more thundercloud is coming, a new wave of financial crisis. 

Aviation industry complains of the authorities, carriers — of 

the industry, investors are ready to put money only into projects 

that are guaranteed to bring profit… everyone has his own views 

and interests. Only sky is one for all. And this International avia‑ 

tion transport forum is like a possibility to meet everybody in the 

cockpit before flight in order to discuss the common route and 

come to a mutual understanding that is in such a great need for 

a successful takeoff. 

The sky is open. We only need to understand each other. To 

determine optimum parameters of the takeoff. And be ready to 

gain height. 

Content and layout by the “Publishing Syndicate” Project and ZAO “Commersant–Volga”, 44, Novo‑Sadovaya str., Samara. Tel.: +7 (846) 276 72 51, 276 72 52. 

Copy editor — Sergey Titov. Graphic designer — Natalya Egorova. Interpreters: Elena Ahmatova, the “O’K” Translation Bureau. Correctors — Olga Mokhnacheva, Elena 

Ahmatova. No. of copies printed — 4500. Printed by the “Aeroprint” Printing House, Zavodskoye Shosse, 18, Samara. Tel.: +7 (846) 932 02 43. 

Advertiser is liable for promo materials. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means. Distribution through special address sending 

the cover: IATF‑2011. Piloting group «First flight» is drawing the symbol of their love for aviation in the sky. Photo: Pavel Shalagin. 

gennady antontsev

4 


Mihail Pogosyan: 

“There are some good prospects” 

— Michael Aslanovich, what would 

you call the main problem of the russian 

aviation and aircraft industry? What 

ways do you see to solve it? 

— The main problems of the domestic 

aircraft industry are consequences of the 

crisis of the 90s years. For 15 years civil 

aviation was in oblivion, and military 

aviation has survived due to exports. All 

airplane companies have been put in very 

tough conditions. During those years 

the domestic aviation industry has not 

only significantly reduced the volume of 

production, but has also lost some of the 

technology, has lost many highly qualified 

professionals. 

Sergey titov 

— Former state program of the aviation 

industry — 2015 has actually turned 

out to be unfulfilled. The new one (to 2025) 

is not approved. is there any clear vision 

today, a vision of what are the country 

needs, what can be done, and what is it 

appropriate to do? 

— We cannot say that the federal pro‑ 

gram “Development of Russian civil avia‑ 

tion industry in the 2002–2010 years and 

the period up to 2015” has failed. It is just 

that the goals and objectives which domes‑ 

tic aircraft industry is facing today have 

undergone significant adjustments. That 

program has been developed at the end of 

the crisis 90s years. This was the first at‑ 


It must be right to begin a magazine 

with answers to the questions that 

concern all aviators and aircraft 

constructors, the questions where 

everyone is seeking the self — 

identification of Russia, in order to 

understand where we go and what 

we want. That is why the opinion of 

Mikhail Pogosyan, President of the 

UAC, which largely determines the 

fate of the Russian aircraft industry, is 

so important. Later on these answers 

may become the basis for plans and 

projects for someone, and for the 

others — the subject of controversy and 

debate, later to become the impetus for 

new, already different solutions. That is 

why OPENNESS is necessary, which is 

always better than ignorance. So …UAC 

President Mikhail Pogosyan answers 

the questions of the Open region. 

tempt to build long‑term plans after a long 

10‑year break. In some ways this attempt 

proved to be too optimistic, but in other 

ways — pessimistic, on the contrary. Russia 

now lives in completely different financial 

and economic conditions. For example, 

when the SSJ‑100 project began, no one 

thought that the state can carry out a seri‑ 

ous budget funding of an aviation program 

which is now underway, for example, in 

the framework of the MS‑21. 

Now stabilization stage is already over, 

and there are good prospects for the fi‑ 

nancial and industrial growth. Over the 

past few years UAC has shown an annual 

growth of 20 %. A very good indicator.



We have a deep understanding of the 

prospects for the next 10–15 years. Pas‑ 

senger traffic has been calculated. UAC 

has already incorporated these forecasts in 

the strategy of its development up to 2025, 

adopted last year. By 2025 the corporation 

will have to balance and reduce the busi‑ 

ness risks due to the availability of the line 

of promising competitive products in all 

major segments of our business — civil, 

military, and transport aircraft construct‑ 

ing. The key UAC programs in the field 

of civil aviation today are the SSJ‑100 

short‑haul and medium MS‑21 aircraft 

projects, in military aviation — projects 

of the promising aviation complex of 

tactical aviation (PAK FA), of Su‑35 and 

MiG‑29K/KUB complexes, of training air‑ 

craft Yak‑130. In the field of air transport 

the key UAC programs are the project of 

modernization of heavy military transport 

aircraft IL‑76, of production of An‑70 and 

An‑124, and a project of medium multi‑ 

purpose transport aircraft MTA. 

— What measures will UAC and russian 

government use to support domestic avia‑ 

tion industry and to protect it in terms of 

Russia’s accession to the WTO? 

— These measures exist for a long 

time and are used in the world aircraft 

construction. They are government 

orders for aircraft production. in the 

expert opinion 

• The main problem of Russian aviation is the lack of a competitive envi‑ 

ronment at all levels. At the level of the customer, at the company level, 

at the level of ideas, and at the level of people involved in this matter. 

We have only the United Aircraft Corporation. Its plans are the govern‑ 

ment's plans. As there is no competition between companies, there are 

no ideas, and people do not have competition, because all of them are 

members of one corporation. 

• I am sure, both the government and the UAC have a clear vision and 

well thought‑out program of development of the aviation industry, 

which, incidentally, is well funded. Is it good or not, is meaningless 

to ask, because there is one organization that laid out the plans 

for itself, according to its abilities. So it is good for itself. If the gov‑ 

ernment is satisfied with these plans, then they also meet the needs 

of the country as far as the government understands them. The 

rest is idle speculation. Another question is how right is the industry 

construction itself. If this government is happy with it, then it is cor‑ 

rect. Another government or another aircraft manufacturer would 

probably suggest other ways. 

• No additional measures to protect against the WTO are necessary. 

Industry had 20 years to learn to live and work in the new economy. For 

15 years the industry was more than protected and dictated its terms 

to customers. Positive results are not achieved. Under the conditions 

of isolation and protectionism one cannot learn anything, there are 

no internal incentives for development. We should not defend ourselves 

against the WTO, but should make high‑quality equipment. Who can 

work in this market will remain. Who cannot — will be lost. And civil aircraft 

construction in any case shall not perish. Usually, if this thing is once bred 

90s and the first half of the 2000s there 

was no such support of the russian aircraft 

industry. Practically, the only way 

to survive was the production of aircraft, 

military in the first place, for export. in 

the last few years russia has re-emerged 

a new military government order for 

production, ensuring long-term and 

guaranteed downloading for a number of 

UAC companies and its subcontractors. 

Today the production of military aircraft 

for domestic customer, the Ministry 

of Defense of russia, exceeds production 

of aircraft for export. This is the 

best measure to support the domestic 

aircraft industry. The same measure 

could be a decisive factor in the fate 

of a number of non-military aircraft 

programs. 

As for the WTO, the corporation is will‑ 

ing to work in a commercial environment: 

we offer the market such products that 

are competitive both in the domestic and 

overseas markets. Aircraft manufacturers 

need the ability to get competitive loans 

at the market at 4–5 % and for a period of 

7–8 years, so that our businesses do not 

have to accumulate a large debt load and 

raise the cost of production, once again 

we need competitive in the global market 

financing instruments of aircraft sales and 

government contracts to encourage the 

development of mass production. 

Boris rybak, Infomost Consulting company Director 

— Why does not russia develop the 

direction of building general aviation 

aircraft and aircraft for local air 

lines? 

— In the existing infrastructure the 

market for such aircraft is on the order of 

80–100 units. As a starting point it is ad‑ 

visable to initiate the development of such 

programs not in large corporations but in 

small enterprises, or in case of moderniza‑ 

tion of the previously existing models — at 

aircraft repair facilities. 

— Does Tu-204SM have positive prospects? 

Why was it that the plane was not 

claimed, and the question of reasonable 

price which would allow to get the demand 

and to start mass production, has 

not been resolved? 

— Unfortunately, this project has greatly 

delayed the market entry. It was not just the 

fault of the developer and manufacturer. 

There have been delays with the new en‑ 

gine and new avionics. Meanwhile in the 

cost of the aircraft there are up to 64 % of the 

cost of purchased components. Therefore 

the previously planned project costs and 

timing of its implementation failed to be 

complied with. 

Currently Tu‑204SM completes certifica‑ 

tion testing. We believe that Tu‑204SM is 

an excellent platform for government cus‑ 

tomers, whose fleet needs serious updating. 

around, it is practically impossible to eradicate. I think that this is due to 

the inner need of the man to fly, to his need of technical progress. 

• Russia is able to organize mass production of general and domestic 

air routes aircraft, and there is a need for them. However, until recently 

small aircraft were actually banned in our country. Now there is some 

relief, but there is no normal legal framework for their existence. When 

there is no favorable economic base, there will not be sufficient demand 

and mass production. I am confident that with the appropriate economic 

and legal conditions the demand will appear, and also will the Russian 

production of small aircraft. 

• I think that Tu‑204SM has no future. Mainly because of the inability of 

the plant to produce it in sufficient quantities with sufficient quality at 

economically reasonable prices. As you know, the question of cost with 

a small lot production has not been resolved. I have already said: the 

UAC has a very clear concept of what it can and wants to produce, but 

this plane is not visible there, and it seems that it is not very interesting 

for the corporation. 

• It would make sense for us not even to restore production of An‑124 but 

to create a new super‑heavy transport aircraft of the XXI century at its 

base. But for some reason the project is going very slowly, overcoming 

a powerful internal resistance of the medium. It is possible that the 

subject of heavy cargo planes is just not very popular in today's circles 

of russian aviation industry (I myself, while working at the construction 

bureau named after Mikoyan thirty years ago, looked down on all aircraft 

except fighters, sincerely believing that “trucks” are the lot of second‑class 

constructors). And, despite great pressure from commercial operators, 

UAC, apparently, is reluctant to engage in this program.

6 


More than a hundred of this dimensional 

state Soviet‑built aircraft are operated to‑ 

day by state agencies, about 30 of them 

have already exhausted their resource 

term or are close to it. However, there are 

stringent requirements on the use of the 

planes of exclusively domestic production 

for a variety of tasks. It is for these pur‑ 

poses that we offer them the Tu‑204SM. The 

state order would significantly reduce the 

aircraft start‑up production expenses and 

lower its cost. 

— When is it planned to start production 

of deep-modernized ruslan? There 

have been ten years of talking about it, 

all “aye”, and the case is not moving, 

different departments refer to different 

reasons. is there a specific business plan, 

a roadmap for this project? 

— JSC UAC in conjunction with the State 

Enterprise Antonov are working out the re‑ 

sumption of production of these aircraft in 

a modern guise. In exploring there is also 

the so‑called road map which, according to 

our understanding, should form the basis 

of the above‑mentioned programs. 

— When do you plan to start funding 

for r & D of new (digital) “publication” 

of An-124 ruslan and an updated engine 

for it? 

— It has been almost twenty years after 

the production of aircraft An‑124 which 

were developed in 1970–1980 had stopped. 

To resume the production of new aircraft 

on old technology means to go thirty or 

forty years back to the ancient plasma‑ 

template method. 

New advanced technologies are needed 

for cost optimization, creating high quality 

and modern training means (simulators, 

teaching computer classes), organizing an 

effective system of service. 

The experience of running a new heavy 

transport IL‑76MD‑90 in production at 

Aviastar‑SP shows that the complexity of 

building an aircraft in its class, designed in 

“figure”, can be reduced to half compared 

with the old “paper” technology. Within 

the framework of the federal program 

Aviastar is being equipped with modern 

facilities for technology in “figure”. It would 

be worthwhile to use this equipment for 

the manufacture of transport aircraft of 

An‑124 class. 

Please note also that these aircraft are 

scheduled to be produced within fifteen 

or twenty years. Terms of aircraft service 

will amount to 45–50 years. As a result, the 

life term of the new super heavy outbound 

russian‑made transport aircraft will be at 

least 60–70 years. That is why we should 

start with a decision on the development of 

electronic documentation with the use of 

accumulated experience on the programs 

of Sukhoi Superjet 100, IL‑76MD‑90, Yak‑130, 

Su‑35, etc. 

Of course, not everything and at once 

should be “digitized”. We must start with 

an analysis of the preserved reserve tech‑ 

nology, create priorities, evaluate the tim‑ 

ing and costs. And only after that we could 

run the electronic design. Apparently, it 


makes sense to use the preserved reserve 

technology in the production of the first 

batch of aircraft. But in the end the aircraft 

must be designed in “figure” and produced 

on the basis of modern equipment and in‑ 

novative technologies. 

— is there any sense in the government 

order for 10 ruslans, as it was announced 

earlier this year by Dmitry 

rogozin? Previously, according to the 

state program of armaments, it was 

planned to order at least 20 An-124, at 

the same time claiming that the economic 

efficiency of the project requires 

start-up order of 60 aircraft. So after all 

what is needed for the start-up order? 

What public investment in the project is 

necessary? 

— As for the starting order, the ques‑ 

tion of its volume is certainly important, 

but it is not the only determining factor 

for the start of production. It is understood 

that the cost of the aircraft cannot include 

all costs of the commercial production of 

aircraft, of its parts and components (such 

as engine, equipment, gear, etc.), as well as 

the costs of reconstruction and moderniza‑ 

tion of cooperation enterprises, technology 

training, and the development of electronic 

documentation. 

Today the question remains open about 

the required volume of public invest‑ 

ment allocated to the reconstruction and 

The fate of Tu-204SM is still unknown 

Sergey titov



modernization of enterprises co‑operat‑ 

ing in future production of aircraft and 

engines for them, as well as the issue of re‑ 

suming engine production in Ukraine. The 

base engine D18T was developed in Ukraine. 

Its production has been finished. The entire 

fleet of AN‑124 flies with the D18T engines 

produced in 1980–1990s. Even for the start 

of production of a modernized version of 

this engine an expensive experimental 

design work and technological preparation 

of production is necessary. 

Basing on the scope of the project, the 

resumption of production of aircraft type 

An‑124 is possible under a federal target 

program to be developed and approved at the 

state level in the shortest possible time, and 

we must provide funding and start work this 

year. In this program based on modern tech‑ 

nologies, involving all interested parties, we 

should determine the amount of investment 

for the development and organization of 

production of new super heavy outbound 

transport aircraft and engines. Identify the 

sources of these investments, develop cycli‑ 

cal work schedules, form cooperation, etc. 

It is also necessary to study and determine 

the form and amount of the participation of 

commercial organizations in implementa‑ 

expert opinion 

• Today the aviation industry has itself got some problems with under‑ 

standing what it needs from the aviation industry, and how to get it. 

Everyone understands that the 20 years of stagnation in the aviation in‑ 

dustry had affected it, it is in a very difficult situation, and to make it 

capable of self‑development it requires investment and a clear action 

plan. There is a long list of questions for which the aircraft constructors 

have not yet received the government response. We must first have a 

goal‑setting, and only then determine resources for the purposes. The 

situation is improving, but in general the industry remains financially 

bloodless, with no resources for development. 

• Aviation Industry Development Program to 2025 is the first attempt 

to create a state program, previously there were only federal targeted 

programs with an indication as to how much should be spent for what 

types of aircraft. But it turned out that the state intervened in the 

decision‑making at the level of UAC, indicating how much and what to 

do. The goal of achieving 10 % of the supply of the world civil aircraft 

market is false in my opinion, especially since it cannot be achieved only 

with the SSJ‑100, and to invest in all projects is impossible. That very 

government order provides the ultimate cost‑effectiveness of 6 %, when 

R & D cannot be considered. And debt financing in Russia is clearly not 

compatible with the creation of a new aircraft. It seems to me that, after 

all, the government has not enough clear vision of the aviation industry 

prospects. One thing is to say that we need a strong aviation industry, 

and another thing is to have a comprehensive development program, 

addressing issues of funding, professional education, staff consolidation 

system, and credit. 

• There are issues that the WTO does not regulate, but they radically 

affect the competitiveness of industries, for example, staff training and 

consolidation. There are things that require immediate formation, for 

example, to finance sales. If you sell even the best aircraft at the rate 

of Russian banks, no one will buy it. The WTO also does not prohibit to 

finance R&D, therefore the severity of financing the aviation industry and 

tion of the program of production resump‑ 

tion of super heavy outbound transport 

aircraft An‑124 in Russia. 

According to well‑known foreign ana‑ 

lytical editions Forecast International and 

Teel Group analysis which is confirmed by 

the data of operating companies, in the 

next decade the demand for large commer‑ 

cial transport will increase significantly. 

Therefore, the demand for heavy transport 

aircraft of IL‑76MD‑90 and AN‑124 class 

will increase. Our cautious forecast of or‑ 

ders for new outbound super‑heavy trans‑ 

port aircraft of An‑124 class is 40–50 units 

by 2030. We expect to continue production 

after 2030 also. 

In this case especially to be noted is that 

the volume of orders will be determined not 

only and not so much by the need of the 

market — it is just easy to forecast. The pa‑ 

rameters such as the cost of airplanes, the 

success of their operation, and efficiency 

of service will be important. 

Yes, the Russian Defense Ministry in the 

current decade plans to order 10 new aircraft 

like the An‑124 from the current produc‑ 

tion of Aviastar‑SP. But the need is much 

higher, and we look forward to continuing 

government orders after 2020 also. 

oleg Panteleyev, Head of aviaport agency analytical service 

— every year of delay in the resumption 

of production of An-124 is not in our 

favor. Will not we lose, and then America 

will gain? 

— The Americans have a transport plane 

which goes under the symbol L500 (com‑ 

mercial version of the C‑5M). The aircraft 

did not go in the mass production, so they 

do not have much influence on the market 

for large transport. The main player in this 

niche is Ruslan. The niche of super heavy 

outbound transport aircraft is a niche 

where Russia has a chance to be a major 

player for a long time. But the solution to 

this complex problem would require very 

significant efforts and investments, close 

attention from the state, and the effec‑ 

tive interaction and mutual understand‑ 

ing with the head developer, Ukrainian 

company Antonov. 

— How would you define the problem 

of today’s aviation industry? 

— For the sake that Russian aircraft in‑ 

dustry should reach a new level we need 

to increase substantially the production of 

aircraft, of civil aircraft and transport air‑ 

craft in the first place. To do this there are 

enough people and finance, it is only neces‑ 

sary to harmonize these activities. � 

all the risks should be transferred to the scientific sector, so that avia‑ 

tion industry should receive the output of technically well‑established, 

safe and low risk solutions that can be integrated into a new structure 

at minimal cost. 

• In Russia there are really many talented design teams that are able to 

create small aviation aircraft, but so far the state did not lend credence 

to any of them. We must also wonder why their projects do not attract 

private investors. Industry and Trade Ministry's position is that Russia's 

domestic market is not big enough to let you get a return of funds in‑ 

vested in the development. And there is no guarantee that we will be able 

to make a plane that will be better than those of foreign competitors. 

• Tu‑204SM is a niche aircraft, rather heavy, with large capacity, it is 

effective when operating with a load and range close to the maximum. 

This limitation of the market has played a trick on it. The machine could 

be in demand when carriers did not have access to the planes of foreign 

production. Too much time is lost. And with a small lot of production and 

reasonable price the plane would be unprofitable. Meanwhile there is 

no demand confirmed with appointments for this aircraft. Today it is 

painful to admit that money is wasted. And there is no evidence to the 

contrary yet. 

• The Russian Air Force which has a dozen of these aircraft, pending 

the restoration of airworthiness, along their fence, does not need new 

Ruslans for the solution of today's problems. The question of restoring 

the aircraft to a new technical person is one of the most painful for such 

airlines as Volga‑Dnepr. But only this order is not enough to make the 

project financially balanced. It is with this, I suppose, that the delays in 

project implementation are connected. When the military men come 

short of their supply of Ruslans, or when the amount of tasks changes, 

we can expect a more dynamic solution to the problem. However, for 

Russia this issue is politicized, and much depends on the position of the 

Ukrainian leadership.

To conquer ourselves 

The Ulyanovsk region Governor Sergey Morozov continues to rely on the aircraft, 

although it may seem that today there are other popular trends, and the Russian 

aviation industry is still going through hard times, donating one or another 

position in the fierce competition from international manufacturers. What is the base 

for such confidence and hopes of the region Head, what are the challenges faced, and 

how can the Governor influence the federal decisions — about this and many other 

things the Open region editor Sergey Titov is talking to him. 

— Sergey ivanovich, we meet on the 

eve of the international Air Transport 

Forum (iATF), initiated by you a year ago 

and now traditionally held in Ulyanovsk. 

Why do you think such action is necessary? 

What did the first forum give to the 

region and to national aviation? 

— I am advocating that we should not 

catch up but be a leader. You know, like 

the military men who first cast troopers 

to conduct reconnaissance, gain a foot‑ 

hold, and only then pull up the troops 

that win the battle. And if we want to 

win the battle for leadership in aircraft 

construction and aviation, not only in 

Russia but also in the world, it is neces‑ 

sary to cast troopers, and those troopers 

are the forum. In its organization we are 

moving away from entertainment and 

pomposity, though it’s not a problem: pay 

the money — and all will be OK. The fo‑ 

rum is purely informative, where they set 

and discuss the problems. And our task is 

to overtake western competitors, but for 

this we need all the most advanced, and 

even the projects that seem unrealistic 

should be brought for discussion on this 

site. We must create such an atmosphere 

there that people who have ten times 

got under a cold shower while convers‑ 

ing with the big pros would come and 

express their ideas. I do want to create a 

pavel Shalagin 

bank of ideas in the field of aviation, and 

at the forum I plan to turn to the global 

aviation community with the proposal 

not to postpone the ideas that were not 

realized due to the fact that someone said 

“it is impossible” or “it will never fly “, but 

to put them into our huge data bank, in 

order to look later for an opportunity to 

give life to the idea, maybe together. 

— But at the first forum so many problems 

were raised in numerous discussions, 

and as a result — nothing specific 

in the resolution. So, they argued, 

quarreled, and then departed. Where is 

the real bottom line in it? Was it a sort 

of interest?



— I will not deny, certainly was. We 

conducted a series of important negotia‑ 

tions with investors, and now they have 

turned into real projects. But the main 

thing after all is that we have shown that 

the Ulyanovsk region is an open area, 

that it is possible and necessary for the 

different sides of aviation, which is the 

same for all of us, to meet and find points 

of understanding. And the fact that there 

will be everyone from the federal govern‑ 

ment who is interested in the development 

of aircraft and in the return of Russia as 

a leader, says that the leaders of the air 

transport and aircraft manufacturers will 

be heard. Moreover, the Chairman of the 

Federation Council Valentina Matvienko 

personally asked to send her all the ma‑ 

terials according to IATF, with the most 

advanced resolutions of round tables and 

sections, so that later it became the basis of 

the parliamentary hearings and of making 

decisions jointly with the government. 

— And what issues do you personally 

intend to raise in the forum? 

— I’m not a great expert in professional 

aviation matters, but we will do everything 

so that professionals themselves could 

talk about their problems. However, I in‑ 

tend to return to the idea which has been 

expressed very carefully as yet, the estab‑ 

lishment of the association of air regions 

of Russia. Not only of the regions where 

there are large aircraft factories and large 

airports, but also those where there is a 

small aircraft assembly production of small 

aircraft, where there are people who are in 

love with the sky. Not just to join them 

but to become a platform for discussion 

of aviation legislation. You know that in 

Russia with its today’s legislation it is very 

difficult to start production of small avia‑ 

tion aircraft, let alone to rise in the sky in 

such a plane. And I set myself the task: A) 

to unite and B) to become the initiator of 

changes in existing legislation, to open 

the sky for all who are interested in the 

development of aviation. 

— More than five years ago you have 

bet on the development of the aviation 

cluster, stating that the Ulyanovsk 

should be the aviation capital of russia. 

Today, with the height of experience, do 

not you think you were wrong, and there 

should have been some other bet? Today 

there are other popular trends (eg, nanotechnology), 

and the WTo membership of 

aircraft manufacturers that has taken 

place does not make happy somehow … 

— Of course, from the height of all those 

years spent on the aviation front I can say 

Sergey Morozov is sure that it is necessary 

to revive small aviation and to open the sky Shalagin 

for everyone who wants to fly pavel 

that now I am far from the feelings like 

at the beginning of the period. I thought 

then that we will solve the problem of 

giving work to the aircraft factory and the 

problem of personnel quickly enough… 

But it was not so easy. But no, I was not 

mistaken. Because I think that russian 

aviation and aircraft industry cluster that 

we are forming today have a great future. 

It really is not just a lifebuoy that will 

save the Ulyanovsk region but also the 

direction that will enable to carry out 

my ambitious dreams. We will begin to 

produce advanced materials for aircraft at 

the Aerocomposite plant, and the center 

for the interior of all russian aircraft is 

also located in Ulyanovsk. Having good 

and modern facilities, we have achieved 

that now the coloring and finishing of all 

Russian aircraft will be made here. We did 

not make a mistake. Of course we wanted 

to get the effect earlier. But not all at once. 

Since 2014, coming on a batch production 

of IL‑76, Aviastar will pay more taxes than 

a stable car plant. Aviastar has even today, 

in its difficult state, given an impetus to 

building housing for nearly 100,000 peo‑ 

ple in the aircraft manufacturers district, 

which would be a good incentive for new 

aviation professionals. When in 2014 Avia‑ 

star reaches its capacity of 10 aircraft per 

year, its annual turnover will be about 

30 billion rubles, and there will also be the 

production of An‑124 and other directions. 

And taxes will almost double the budget of 

Ulyanovsk. It’s better than any ore process‑ 

ing plant or oil well, which are subject to 

rapidly changing market conditions. And 

here everything is to stay. So we did not 

miscalculate. 

— Some, even aviation, experts believe 

that russia is already hopelessly behind, 

and must take its modest place in aviation, 

corresponding to its features … 

— I do not think so. Nothing was left be‑ 

hind. Yes, we sometimes do not have enough 

money …I compare the same Aviastar with 

our region. Our neighbors had a period of 

stability much greater than ours, but in 

many indicators of development, economic 

and social approaches Ulyanovsk region is 

ahead of Samara region and other neighbors. 

Maybe because we believe in the prospects of 

development, look for innovative solutions, 

and at the same time actively use the posi‑ 

tive experience of the west. It is like that in 

aviation also. We are looking for solutions, 

we aspire to leadership. We will finish the 

construction of a huge building for the sec‑ 

ond workshop of final assembly in Aviastar, 

which began in the late 80s and stood for 

20 years, all abandoned. And in one workshop 

the unique modernized IL‑76 will be build, 

and in another — the huge Ruslan. Did we 

lose? No. I assure you, if the companies with 

state capital and the authorities treated our 

aircraft as tenderly as the French or the 

Germans treat their automotive engineer‑ 

ing, we would have absolutely made a good 

competition to Boeing and Airbus. Why do 

leaders and big businessmen of western 

countries prefer to buy cars manufactured in 

their country, and our ones do not want to? 

You know that Tu‑134 and Tu‑154 are being 

derived from the operation. They should be 

replaced with something. And nothing pre‑ 

vents from taking the Tu‑204SM — a modern 

plane, not inferior to western counterparts. It 

has got 70 of the 300 certification flights left. 

The plane has shown itself perfectly in all 

climatic conditions. Yes, there were problems 

with technical support in operation, but 

these problems have been solved. We need 

statesmanship. Officials have been banned 

to purchase pricey machines, recommend‑ 

ing the purchase of russian‑made cars, even 

from foreign parts. Well, let’s take the next 

step. Why just lift one leg?

10 


— i understand that it is not easy to 

put tough questions to federal officials. 

And yet — do you intend to raise the issue 

of orders on the Tu-204SM and the resumption 

of production of the An-124? 

— Many executives from other indus‑ 

tries are offended that during the visits of 

the President of Russia to Ulyanovsk I first 

draw his attention to the problems of avia‑ 

tion. But I hope that this time again, during 

a meeting with the president, I will be able 

to discuss with him and offer to purchase 

the Tu‑204SM for the companies with state 

participation, and the issue of restarting 

the production of Ruslan, perhaps even 

with a specific timetable. 

— The year is going to be hard for 

the regional authorities: since the entry 

of russia into the WTo our aircraft 

construction will be in more difficult 

economic conditions, and at the same 

time a crisis is approaching from the 

West. How does the government intend 

to support the region’s aviation cluster 

enterprises in these conditions? 

— You know that in our industrial in‑ 

vestment zones and industrial parks there 

are benefits that are in no way inferior to 

the federal special economic zones that 

have federal preferences. There was much 

debate as to whether this is the way. But we 

have taken the additional costs, knowing 

that today we have no right to deny our‑ 

To touch the past in order to understand 

the future 

selves the pleasure to create a completely 

new and innovative economy in the re‑ 

gion. Because if tomorrow once again the 

crisis will cross our borderline, and horror 

stories about accession to the WTO will 

come true (which I do not really believe, 

though, maybe I am not an expert in this 

field), then many of our businesses can 

become not competitive enough, and it 

will lead to the next collapse, and people 

will find themselves on the street... But I 

do not believe that Gildemayster, Isuzu, or 

Takata‑Petri will stop. So I have to hurry 

and quickly create a new economy that does 

not depend on the political and economic 

environment. 

— Since we have touched the issue 

of areas of investment… in Ulyanovsk 

region there are several of them already. 

on what basis do you determine the place 

for such industrial parks? 

— On the proximity to the necessary 

natural resources, availability of labor 

resources or their rapid deployment, on 

transport and other infrastructure neces‑ 

sary for the investors. Such zones are light‑ 

houses for development. Like a lighthouse 

where people go, and like a lighthouse 

that indicates an installed path to which 

you can navigate. Hopefully, by the way, 

we will be one of the four subjects of the 

Russian Federation with whom Sberbank 

will sign a special agreement on coopera‑ 

tion in infrastructure development for such 

lighthouses. We must pay tribute to Gref, 

Sberbank began thinking that it is not 

enough just to lend, one must first create 


the conditions for future borrowers to fly 

there faster. Industrial parks are an effec‑ 

tive direction of development. Dimitrov‑ 

grad automobile units plant (which was 

formerly a subsidiary of AvtoVAZ) due to the 

fact that the previous nomenclature for the 

soviet — russian cars is almost not required, 

is in a very difficult situation now, and it’s 

almost ten thousand people. We have de‑ 

cided to establish an industrial park, and in 

August already several major companies 

are beginning to deploy their production 

there, and they will even not have to hire 

more than a thousand people. 

— in Ulyanovsk the country’s only 

special economic zone of airport type is 

being created. Does the region have a 

clear strategy of forming a pool of residents 

to ensure the maximum effect 

from their activities, beneficial to the 

region and the country? 

— When we were just getting ready to 

fight for the right of establishment a special 

economic zone in the region, we asked the 

consulting companies, selected on a com‑ 

petitive basis for the formation of strategy, 

what competencies Russia could get in 

aviation sphere in order to become a promi‑ 

nent participant in the struggle for leader‑ 

ship in economic competition. All partners 

have told us that Russia has got three major 

areas that must be addressed. The first is 

maintenance and repair of aircraft, because 

the Russian market of MRO is developing 

rapidly, and it means hundreds of millions 

of dollars that now go outside the coun‑ 

try, thousands of new high‑paying jobs. 

pavel Shalagin



The second — a vast country like Russia 

cannot do without regional aviation, and 

sooner or later it will have to be produced in 

Russia. And the third is logistics. It was a 

few years ago. Today everyone is talking 

about MRO, logistics, and regional aviation. 

For all these issues residents have already 

arrived, confirming the demand. And if 

some suspicious people had not cut down 

the Eclipse project, this super unique plane 

would have been built in our region. 

— over the past six-plus years of your 

leadership in the region have your views 

on the relationship with the investors 

changed somehow? 

— Yes, they have changed, and very 

much. Six years ago we did not care what 

kind of investor, and what will he bring, 

if only he comes. At that time there were 

few investors, and we had little experience. 

Hence the number of errors, such as with 

the airship construction, when it seemed 

to be the investor and not the investor 

at the same time. Today the approach is 

fundamentally different: we are looking 

for investors who would immediately solve 

the problem of technology transfer. We are 

not interested any more in the investors 

who may withdraw and leave tomorrow. 

When technology transfer is made they 

will not remove. That is, they have already 

come and married us in the registry office, 

not like it used be, “civil marriage” when 

they live, disperse, and one can even not 

come home after work. 

— This summer, following the federal 

trend, some regions have begun to enter 

a post of commissioner for the protection 

of investors and entrepreneurs into 

their power structure. However, in the 

Ulyanovsk region such position exists 

for more than a year, and you have made 

yourself the investment ombudsman. 

Why? There were no other candidates, 

or you have a lot of free time? 

— I started from the simple propositions: 

the control system of the Ulyanovsk region 

has not yet been brought to the european 

level and to the state where everything is 

done fast and essentially automatically. 

Our officials are still often guided not by 

the law and regulations, but by their mood 

or, God forbid, mercantile interests. And 

the risk of losing investors and stopping 

the development of the region is very high. 

While in the first stage, I cannot ignore it. 

This is a personal area of responsibility of 

the governor. The result of this activity will 

determine if the governor is successful or 

he must leave. 

— They say you’re paying a lot of attention 

to aviation professional guidance 

of youth, but again, that you do it 

manually. 

— Unfortunately, only now we have 

started to create a single coordinating 

anastasya Stolbova 

Sergey Morozov considers creating the general mood of the region population his main task 

body for professional guidance in the go‑ 

vernment. And often such questions have 

to be conserned personally. At a meeting 

with the President I would like to invite 

Mr. Putin to implement in Ulyanovsk his 

own idea of the need to create a National 

Museum of civil aviation. I will try to con‑ 

vince the head of state that we have already 

got the basis for such a museum, it is our 

museum of civil aviation which has got 

38 unique items, and apart from them — 

nine thousand documents on the history 

of aviation. We would like to make this 

museum interactive, so everyone can see 

and taste what aviation is. In addition, I 

would like to implement a database of the 

most advanced ideas on the base of the IATF 

and of the museum. In childhood I was 

fond of science fiction — literally drown‑ 

ing in it. After many years I saw that almost 

everything that was said by sci‑fi writers is 

coming true. Who knows, maybe some 

of the amazing projects and ideas will be 

seen and realized decades later, or lead an 

enthusiastic aviators’ inquisitive mind to 

new ideas. 

— it is believed that the development 

of aviation does not depend on the regional 

authorities, as the aircraft is a 

high level product, and solution to be or 

not to be for an aircraft, factory, government 

contract is been taken in the offices 

of the federal government. What is your 

role then? 

— I believe that the Ulyanovsk region 

was not lucky for a long time, because at 

first the region leaders were not involved in 

the alignment (in a good and public sense of 

the word) of a lobbying policy. They thought 

that the main thing was to be liked here, on 

their territory. But to talk about the need for 

the russian leadership in aviation industry 

one must either use his status to be able to 

persuade and to be kept on hearing by top 

officials, or to use the same air transport 

forums, associations, and others. And sec‑ 

ond — this is also my deep conviction — the 

mood of the population depends on the re‑ 

gional government. And this mood must be 

positive. Everything depends on it. That is 

why, for example, among the tasks of the 

regional aviacluster Directorate there is 

the formation of a new architectural ap‑ 

pearance of the aircraft manufacturers’ 

district, so that adults and children could 

understand and feel where they live and 

work, and be proud of it. They must feel 

that they live in a dynamically developing 

region which is on the runway. 

— i thought you will say something 

about the necessity of creating conditions 

for investors, of infrastructure, tax 

breaks, and you suddenly talk about the 

general mood… 

— All this is for granted. We already 

have created infrastructure — look at the 

port special economic zones, industrial 

parks. We also have identified long ago 

our economic policies in relation to inves‑ 

tors. Today the main task is to conquer 

ourselves. To conquer disbelief in what we 

can. We ourselves must make ourselves. 

Look, we are glad that a hundred major 

foreign investors have come to us. But the 

main thing is not that they have chosen 

us but the fact that they chose Russia. We 

must believe that we can, and bring here 

those companies that choose between the 

countries, realizing that coming here they 

help our country to become a leader. To 

believe it. And to make them also believe. 

And choose Russia. �

To help moscow. multimodally 

The experts believe that there is everything necessary at the base of the airport 

Ulyanovsk — Vostochny for creating a full cargo hub 

gennADy elTSov 

to ride the wave 

According to John Cassard, Ph. D. University 

of North Carolina (USA), the world is now 

at the bottom of the fifth wave of econom‑ 

ic development. The waves in his under‑ 

standing are the evolution of the dominant 

means of transport. Thus, if the main area 

of economic growth during the first wave 

were seaports, second — the infrastructure 

on the banks of rivers and channels, the 

third — railroads, during the fourth one it 

were highways. And now the fifth wave is 

on the rise, and its dominant are airports. 

The essence of the “wave” changes is in 

growing speed. People want to get and 

use everything new as soon as possible. 

And only aviation can help in this. As a 

rule, people trust the most valuable things 

to it, high technology products that are 

satellites, electronics, aircraft parts, and 

the goods of immediate consumption: 

pharmaceuticals, foods, fashions, flowers. 

There is no ore and oil in the list. Hence the 

dramatic “scissors” appear: while aviation 

makes only 2 % of the world cargo turnover 

weight, it is one third of its cost! In the 

period from 2010 to 2030 experts expect a 

threefold growth in air traffic. Accordingly, 

airports will more and more become cen‑ 

ters of attraction for business and a catalyst 

for economic development. 

All the developed and developing coun‑ 

tries try to ride as high as possible on the 

fifth wave. For instance, China is plan‑ 

ning to build 60 new airports in the near‑ 

est 20 years. The UAE authorities have 

already invested 4 billion rubles in the 

development of the hub airport Dubai, and 

they won`t stop at this, they are building at 

the same place the world largest terminal 

for 3 million tons of loads per year, with a 

flower center having special temperature 

conditions. The argument is that flowers are 

demanded everywhere and in all seasons. 

the sky is our treasure 

Russia does not have such examples yet, 

though it has got powerful potential for 

air transportation. In May, this year at the 

annual meeting of the International Air 

volga-dnepr 

Cargo Association (TIACA) President of Vol‑ 

ga — Dnepr company group Alexey Isaikin 

declared that “the indicators that russian 

cargo aviation is having now are unworthy 

of the possibilities our country has. We 

occupy only 2 % of the world market to‑ 

tal volume. In our opinion, the proper place 

for the russian freight industry to 2030 are 

11–12 %. But for this purpose it is necessary 

to develop with the pace of at least 10–11 % 

per year,” Mr. Isaikin noted. 

However, the RF Ministry of transport is 

also speaking of the necessity to develop 

air cargo transportation. In the concept 

of air cargo transportation development 

presented by the Ministry there are three 

main directions: 1 — attracting world tran‑ 

sit freight traffic into russian air space, 

2 — developing of hub airports that can 

serve multi — modal freight (shipping of 

goods to their destination by at least two 

modes of transport in order to optimize 

customers` costs), 3 — wide adoption of 

modern manufacturing and information 

technologies, in particular, the electronic 

tracking of cargo E‑Freight.


Tendency 

Transit priority is not random, for Rus‑ 

sia has got a unique geographical position 

of a “middle — earth” between Europe and 

China, between south — east Asia and 

North America, and they are the main 

pivots of the world trade. As a result, in 

our air space the most short and profit‑ 

able trans — Siberian and cross — polar 

(through the North Pole) routes are lying. 

But the Ministry concept is not promising 

the Ulyanovsk region an easy life. Eka‑ 

terinburg, Novosibirsk, and Krasnoyarsk, 

which are situated in the key points of 

the trans — Siberia route, were called the 

most promising hub airports. What should 

Ulyanovsk bet in this scenario? 

the unfinished song 

Only few know that the international air‑ 

port Ulyanovsk — Vostochny has already 

tried itself in the role of a hub organizing 

multimodal transportations. And more 

than this, 17 years ago it has initialized 

and was the first in Russia to fulfill such 

transportations. According to the Head of 

the Volga — Traks subsidiary of Volga — 

Dnepr air company Pavel Shaikin, “the idea 

of organizing multimodal transportations 

appeared in the Volga — Dnepr air company 

already in 1993.” He says that loads delivery 

“door — to — door” was seen in the com‑ 

pany as an alternative to the half — crimi‑ 

nal import of goods from China that was 

flourishing in those years. No sooner said 

than done, a special office of cargo service 

was formed in the company which included 

a motor unit (10 superMAZes), customs 

declarants, etc., and from the beginning 

of 1995 each month the volume of traffic 

began to double. Planes from China (more 

seldom from Turkey) were coming to the 

airport almost every day. About 98 % of 

the loads went to Moscow, directly to the 

consignees’ warehouses, and it was profi‑ 

table and convenient for everyone. 

Now, as Mr. Shaikin states, the compa‑ 

ny is ready again to take part in multimodal 

transportations, for the Moscow airports 

are overloaded beyond esteem, and Uly‑ 

anovsk — Vostochny is capable to receive 

all types of aircraft without limitations, 

including An‑124 Ruslan and Boeing 747. 

all will begin from the zone 

In the Ulyanovsk branch of the OAO Spe‑ 

cial economic zones they consider that a 

cargo aviation hub in the Ulyanovsk — Vos‑ 

tochny airport will begin to develop due 

to the residents of the Ulyanovsk special 

economic zone of the port type (PSEZ). They 

will be engaged in maintenance and repair 

(MRO) of aircraft. Thus, OOO AAR Rus (the 

joint venture of the american AAR Corpo‑ 

ration and the russian private investor 

Mukharbek Aushev) is planning to build a 

warehouse in the zone and hence to supply 

parts and assemblies throughout Russia 

and CIS countries. “Vast opportunities are 

opened by PSEZ for logistics companies 

also, for we have a regime of free customs 

zone. Its essence is that products entering 

the zone are not declared and thus are not 

subject to customs duties and VAT. As a 

result, during their staying in the zone the 

supplier company saves significant money 

(up to 40% on imported). When exporting 

goods from the zone the customs duty 

and tax will be paid, of course, but then it 

will be possible to pay from the advance 

payment received from the buyer,” said 

the Deputy Director of the branch Andrey 

Abdullaev. According to him, in order to 

attract significant freight, the branch 

of OAO SEZ is already working with the 

largest logistics companies that organ‑ 

ize optimum transportation through the 

whole world, they are Panalpina, Schenker, 

FM Logistic, and others. The branch con‑ 

siders it promising to lead an interactive 

dialogue with the direct suppliers of goods 

to Russia, first of all with chinese trade 

companies. “We try to persuade them 

that it is advantageous to deliver goods 

through Ulyanovsk. The arguments are 

that in Ulyanovsk — Vostochny there is 

a perfect runway, and it is possible to get 

any slots during the day (the time allotted 

for aircraft takeoff and landing). One more 

serious argument is that when leading 

trade from the PSEZ territory the seller 

company gets all tax preferences,” Mr. 

Abdullaev noted. 

Transport and logistics company Osnova 

located in the airport is also ready to take 

part in the development of Vostochny in 

the role of a hub. In the near future the 

company plans to become a full — fledged 

3PL — operator (that very door — to — door 

cargo delivery). The company General Di‑ 

rector Sergey Sabanov names the following 

competitive advantages of the Vostochny: 

Ulyanovsk has got a unique geographical 

position in the middle of european Rus‑ 

sia and right on the route from China to 

Moscow, on the approach to it; within the 

radius of a thousand kilometers 43 mil‑ 

lion people live, and it is a huge consumer 

market; here airport rates are lower and 

tariffs for cargo handling are more favo‑ 

rable than in Moscow; the airport has got 

a railway already, and federal highways 

are in close vicinity; and finally, the air‑ 

port operates round the clock, and several 

MRO operators are working here. Taking 

all this into account, Osnova is awaiting 

business growth and plans to expand its 

warehouse for temporary storage of cargo 

up to 10,000 square meters, and to purchase 

new equipment. 

a hub or a spoke? 

By the way, the hub model of air transpor‑ 

tation in its full variant is named hub & 

spoke. The hub here means a basic airport, 

and the spokes are the geography of the 

flights from it. The loads come to the hub 

from the whole network, they are being 

sorted and assembled for shipment to end 

recipients. The inventor of the hub mo‑ 

del is considered to be an American FedEx, 

now the largest cargo airline in the world. 

Now in Russia the company group Volga — 

Dnepr coming from Ulyanovsk is going to 

follow its example. The company experts 

estimate that in 2013 the freight turnover 

of the Ulyanovsk — Vostochny airport can 

be up to 20,000 tons, in 2016–50,000, and in 

2022–120,000. In the international practice 

the treatment of 1 kg of air cargo generates 

$ 6 revenue on the ground. In this case the 

profit of the companies engaged in cargo 

transportation at the airport in the named 

years will be 120, 300, and 720 million U. S. 

dollars respectively. 

Both opportunities for the airport deve‑ 

lopment are taken into consideration here. 

air cargo market / 

Structure of internationaL traffic 

Iata forecasts an increase by 1.5-2 times to 2014 

The main long‑term driver of growth is Asia‑Pacific region (APR) 

Russia is on the way of dynamically developing air‑freight flow between Asia and Europe, Asia and North America 

(million tons / year growth in% / data by IATA)

14 

Tendency 

The first is that Ulyanovsk will assume the 

role of a discharge (and backup) area of the 

Moscow air hub, as well as of a multimodal 

center for direct carrying of the incoming 

load in the Volga district by road. By the 

way, of a great help to the region can be 

the implementation of the project Volga 

transit which is forming a new straighten‑ 

ing federal highway Moscow — Saransk — 

Ulyanovsk — Ekaterinburg, parallel to M5. 

The second opportunity for growth is that 

Ulyanovsk will become a sorting cent‑ 

er in international cargo transit. 

It goes without saying that in order to 

gain such heights we must work very hard. 

“An ideal hub needs a favorable geography, 

no less than two runways, a developed in‑ 

frastructure, and modern air traffic con‑ 

trol means. Developed MRO capacities are 

highly advisable (from A‑ to D — check), 

because the aircraft downtime due to tech‑ 

nical reasons reduce the number of flight 

hours and ruin the airline reputation. And 

of course it is absolutely necessary to have 

the desire of public bodies exercising con‑ 

trol and administration in an airport to 

cooperate and even to help freight opera‑ 

tors,” says the Director of hubs development 

of the Volga — Dnepr company group Elena 

Gorina. According to her, there are several 

airports in the world practice that have 

managed to implement the idea of a per‑ 

fect cargo hub: Hong Kong (China), Inchon 

(Korea), Frankfurt (Germany), Memphis 

and Anchorage (USA). The efforts spent on 

their development have not been in vain. 

All the named hubs as a result became 

city — forming enterprises, business cards 

and flagships of their territories. 

The first success stories are appear‑ 

ing in Russia also. Thus, the Tolmachevo 

airport in Novosibirsk that in 2007 has 

served only 182 freight flights, in 2011 has 

enlarged this number up to 1441 — almost 

8 times! Its success factors are competitive 

prices of fuel, of takeoff — landing, and 

special bonuses for technical landings of 

cargo aircraft. 

Ulyanovsk has got all the chances not to 

fall behind. Head of the analytical service 

of the Aviaport agency Oleg Panteleyev 

believes that our city on the Volga obtains a 

unique set of competitive advantages. It is 

“the development of all means of trans‑ 

port along with the highest level of the 

aviation development: two airports, one 

of which is basic for major national cargo 

air companies, Volga — Dnepr and Polyot, 

you can find this nowhere.” Besides, com‑ 

missioning of the President’s bridge across 

the Volga has markedly improved the op‑ 

portunities for track delivery from the 

Ulyanovsk –Vostochny into Central Russia, 

and the project Volga transit will make it 

even more profitable. PSEZ forming will cre‑ 

ate favorable conditions for the warehouse 

logistics operators. And now the region 

air transport industry has got a powerful 

launch customer, International Security 

Assistance Force (ISAF), embarking on 

multimodal transit of non — military cargo 

through Ulyanovsk from Afghanistan to 

Europe. “It will help to build the neces‑ 

sary infrastructure in the airport and to 

train staff,” believes the expert. 

By the way, a source in the aviation clus‑ 

ter of the Ulyanovsk region who preferred to 

remain incognito has noted that the ISAF 

cargo transit may begin “already in the 

near future”. In his words, the leading 

role in the transit belongs to Volga — Dnepr 

aircompany. It will deliver goods from 

Afghanistan by its own fleet, and in order 

to transport them to the Baltic ports it 


What interfereS With 

the fLightS in ruSSia 

(according to the roSaviatSia data) 

the price of aviation fuel in the airports, 

$/t: 

— Alma‑Ata — 800; 

— Europe (average) — 950; 

— RF (average) — 1100; 

— Anchorage (Alaska, USA) — 1100. 

the fee for technical landing at 

airports, $: 

— Alma‑Ata — 5.500; 

— Anchorage — 1.000; 

— Novosibirsk — 7.500; 

— Samara — 9.000; 

— Krasnoyarsk — 12,000. 

rates of charge for air navigation 

services 

(for 100 km to Boeing 747), rubles: 

— RF — 3.889; 

— Kazakhstan — 2,782. 

the time of customs clearance: 

— Sheremetyevo airport (Moscow) — more 

than 5 hours; 

— Hong Kong airport — 20 minutes. 

average components delivery time in 

the situation “plane on the ground”: 

— abroad — 24 hours; 

— in Russia — from two weeks. 

will involve subcontractors. The scheme de‑ 

veloped for multimodal transportation has 

already interested well — known logistics 

companies for commercial use. According 

to the source, the potential of the project 

“is quite high, if only the available capacity 

of the terminal is enough; now it amounts 

to 150 tons a day.” � 

General cargo could be transported to Ulyanovsk, transferred to a large logistics company on PSEZ territory, and then removed by aviation transport or by rail, 

which branch goes directly to the territory of a future hub 

S e Z J Sc



ruslan is awaiting a visa 

The problem of resuming serial production of the famous 

aircraft trucks in Ulyanovsk requires a political solution 

MiHAil ZeMlyAnov 

Unsurpassed, but not eternal 

Life is full of meaning, when there is some‑ 

thing to be proud of. In the whole world 

people estimate each other according to 

their achievements. For example, what 

made the Soviet Union a superpower? Victo‑ 

ry over the Nazi beast. Gagarin’s flight into 

space. The taming of nuclear energy. Who 

would not take off his hat in front of such 

a nation? 

One of such soviet achievements is the 

famous An‑124 Ruslan, the most powerful 

air truck on the planet. It was designed 

and flown in 1982 by Oleg Antonov Design 

Bureau in Kiev. In 1985–1994 it was mass‑ 

produced in Ulyanovsk. On its account 

there are 29 world records, the highest 

of which is the rise of 171.2 tons of cargo 

to a height of 10,750 meters. In everyday 

life it can easily carry 120 tons of cargo for 

4,500 kilometers and 80 — for 7,500. By the 

way, 80 tons is the limit load for all other 

aircraft ramp of the world, working with 

non‑standard goods. And in the heavy‑ 

weight division Ruslan is the only one. 

It carries hydroturbines, modular power 

plants, mining trucks, 52 offroadsters in 

two tiers, subway trains, boats, yachts, 

airplanes, helicopters, satellites, and the 

entire missile. The unofficial slogan of 

the employees of the Ulyanovsk Air com‑ 

pany Volga‑Dnepr is “We will transport 

everything!” Not far from the truth. In the 

USA the An‑124 was once called a “flying 

Lincoln Tunnel section”, and what it does is 

a revolution in transportation of cargo and 

a new word in the global logistics. 

It is hard to find something else in the 

Russian civil aviation that is comparable 

with the merits of An‑124. Demanded in the 

global market due to its unique capabilities, 

Ruslan makes for Russia and Ukraine over 

$ 1 billion a year. According to forecasts, by 

2030 the market for air transport of heavy 

and bulky cargo will grow by 5–7 times. In 

order to meet this demand, as it was cal‑ 

culated in 2008 by auditors of the famous 

Ernst & Young, 71 Ruslans will be needed. 

Meanwhile, there are only 21 of them at 

the commercial market. 

In addition, there is an inevitable na‑ 

tural aging of the equipment. Although 

the exploitation has shown that it can 

work not 7,500 hours of flight, as it was 

prescribed by civil certification, but even 

50,000 hours, or 45 calendar years (life of 

volga-dnepr 

American S‑5 and S‑17 is 30–35 thousand 

hours), and 45 years pass quickly. That is, 

in 2027 (and earlier with intensive use) 

the first cancellations of An‑124 will start 

because of their age, and in 2049 the last 

plane, made in Ulyanovsk on Aviastar‑SP in 

2004, will resign. 

Background 

Paradoxical as it may seem, the govern‑ 

ment and the air carriers, everybody talks 

about the need for the revival of Ruslan 

production for almost 10 years. But there 

are no real solutions yet. 

The first to raise this issue was the com‑ 

pany group Volga‑Dnepr, which under‑ 

stood that sooner or later the designated 

resource of Ruslans will be reached. In 

2003 at the International Aviation and 

Space salon (MAKS) at the initiative of Vol‑ 

ga‑Dnepr, of the aircraft developer Antonov 

design bureau (now Antonov ASTC), as 

well as of the engine manufacturer, Zapo‑ 

rozhian PJSC Motor Sich, an interagency 

agreement was signed, “The decision on 

priority measures for the resumption of 

production and the gradual moderniza‑ 

tion of the AN‑124–100 at the enterprises of 

the Russian Federation and the Ukraine”.

16 


Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, having visited Aviastar in January, this year, said that before 

2020 the military order provides for construction of «up to 10 new aircraft An-124» 

A year later a business plan appeared that 

assumed an annual production of three 

modernized An‑124 aircraft at a cost of $ 

150–160 million for one plane, production 

profitability of 15.8 %, and investment pay‑ 

back period of 14 years. 

A document supposed the release of 

deeply modernized An‑124–300, corre‑ 

sponding to future requirements of ICAO 

and “integrated with western technology”. 

In this case the aircraft could be exported. 

As it was conceived by Antonov ASTC Ge‑ 

neral Designer Petr Balabuev, the plane 

was supposed to get the enlarged center 

section and tail, a fuselage longer by 6 me‑ 

ters, seven instead of five main landing 

gear struts, the engine with takeoff thrust 

of 36 tons, and of course the most mo‑ 

dern avionics. In this case with a cargo of 

120 tons Ruslan would be able to overcome 

10 thousand km non‑stop, which is neces‑ 

sary for cross‑polar and transcontinental 

flights. In addition, in size and take‑off 

weight it would be in line with current 

world’s largest serial aircraft A‑380, secur‑ 

ing the priority of Russia and Ukraine in 

air transport of outsize cargo. 

By the way, the long life of the most 

successful aircraft on the continuous devel‑ 

opment of the platform is a widespread in‑ 

ternational practice. Thus, for more than 

50 years the USA continue to produce the 

P‑130 “truck”, an analogue of the soviet 

An‑12. The world most popular aircraft 

Boeing 737 has been coming off the stocks 

for 50 years, and for over 42 years — Boeing 

Air companies say that the existing fleet 

of Ruslans is not enough to meet the 

growing demand of non-standard goods 

air transport market 

volga dnepr 

747, although the latest models have little in 

common with the original. They are pro‑ 

duced with the use of composites and have 

the “glass cockpit”, electric remote control, 

and high environmental friendliness. 

the ordered deal 

However, no decision at the level of the 

UAC was taken for a long time. For its part, 

the holder of the design documentation 

Antonov ASTC declared their interest in 

project realization and believed that “the 

Russian partners are intentionally delay‑ 

ing the project”, what, according to the 

Ukrainian Internet newspaper “Economic 

News”, was told to reporters by the com‑ 

pany Deputy Designer Oleg Bogdanov. Ac‑ 

cording to him, technological capabilities 

allow to resume production of An‑124 in 

Ulyanovsk in 2014 already, while the Rus‑ 

sian side has postponed it to 2016. 

It should be reminded that representa‑ 

tives of the Russian government and the 



UAC have noted that the resumption of 

Ruslan production does not begin because 

a great start order is required. In 2008 the 

UAC and Ernst & Young completed a draft 

business plan on resuming production of 

An‑124. Their conclusion is that the project 

can pay off, the starting order must be at 

least 40 planes, and 4 billion rubles will be 

required to invest in pre‑production, while 

the price per aircraft will be $ 150–160 mil‑ 

lion. 

Having learned about this, Volga‑ 

Dnepr has immediately increased its 

launch order for Ruslans from 12 to 

40 planes. Then the air company Polyot 

expressed its intention to buy 15 air‑ 

craft, the Antonov ASTC — 5 aircraft; 

it even became known that the Kuwait 

Ministry of Defense was interested in 

the purchase of 2 to 7 aircraft. And in 

November, 2009 President Dmitry 

Medvedev ordered to include purchases 

of 20 An‑124 into the state armaments 

program through 2020 (this year the 

government maintains the order of only 

10 aircraft for some reason). At a meeting 

of the 10th Inter‑Parliamentary Com‑ 

mittee of Russia and Ukraine the UAC 

President Mikhail Pogosyan confirmed 

that the corporation expects to build up 

to 50 An‑124 Ruslans together with the 

Antonov ASTC before 2030. 

That is, the volume of the starting or‑ 

der in any case is significantly more than 

40 units — the minimum specified by au‑ 

ditors. It is time to take a specific decision 

on the resumption of production. However, 

there is little movement. The protocols of 

the Russian‑Ukrainian Interstate Com‑ 

mission on economic cooperation on June, 

2011 and June, 2012 do not differ much. Both 

have got the same vague phrase almost 

without any change: “to finish as soon as 

possible the preparation for signing the 

draft agreement” and “to intensify work 

on the resumption of production of aircraft 

An‑124 with D‑18 engines.”



Problems and solutions 

However, if the incredible happened, 

and a “command to start” the project 

will come today, the terms of resum‑ 

ing production of An‑124 (formerly the 

2016th year was named) would clearly 

not be observed. There are a number of 

unresolved issues, and production can‑ 

not begin without them. In Kiev R & D 

works were not even started, because 

nobody has paid for it yet (R & D, proto‑ 

typing, and certification, according to 

experts, will take at least five years, and 

the start of mass production is pushed 

back to at least 2017). So it is difficult to 

say what will the serial An‑124–300 be 

like, although it is known that increas‑ 

ing the size of Ruslan, planned under 

Petr Balabuev, will not happen. In order 

to facilitate reproduction the airframe 

construction on the whole will remain 

the same. Among the proposed changes, 

as the President and Chief Designer of the 

Antonov ASTC Dmytry Kiva explained 

to the Open Region, are equipping the 

An‑124–300 with a new modification of 

the D‑18T engine of the 5th series with 

a 25 % increase of takeoff thrust and fuel 

efficiency improved to 15–20 %. All air‑ 

craft systems will be replaced by digital. 

Number of crew members will be reduced 

to two. In addition, the An‑124–300 will 

be able to carry out landing according to 

the IIIA ICAO category. Takeoff weight 

will be enhanced to 420 tons, which will 

allow the increase of the flight range with 

a cargo of 150 tons up to 4,000 km, and 

of the empty aircraft — up to 15,000 km. 

The design service life and the life of the 

new aircraft will amount to 60,000 flight 

hours, 12,000 flights, and 50 years. “The 

aircraft will meet the most modern stan‑ 

dards of airworthiness and environmen‑ 

tal performance,” added Mr. Kiva. 

In addition, experts note that one 

of the possible difficulties could be a 

solution of the problem of closest con‑ 

vergence of the military and civilian 

aircraft technical image. For example, 

in commercial versions the functions 

of a flight engineer, navigator, and radio 

Specifications of the world largest aircraft: 

features // 

aircraft type 


B747 B747–8f 380 

operator are carried out directly by pilots, 

and for this sake all the indication with 

system parameters is directly displayed 

on the pilots’ console, while military 

customers do not need these global trends 

and requirements of the ICAO. At the 

same time Aviastar‑SP is not able to raise 

the separate production of two very dif‑ 

ferent versions of the aircraft, as the 

analysts of the Aviaport agency state. 

Meanwhile, Dmitry Kiva is comfortable 

with the differences in the requirements: 

“There are some differences, and they 

mainly concern equipment and elec‑ 

tronic components, which are mostly of 

Russian development, on the military 

transport aircraft. But this does not pre‑ 

vent the implementation of serial produc‑ 

tion program.” 

One more reason for the delay in mak‑ 

ing the decision was the question of intel‑ 

lectual property on a new product. The 

Antonov company as the developer would 

С-5 

Galaxy 

Ан-124 

ruslan 

Ан-225 

Mriya 

Length, m 70,6 76,3 72,75 75,5 69,1 84,0 

Wing span, m 59,6 68,5 79,75 67,9 73,3 88,4 

Empty weight, t 162,4 276,7 280 169,6 176 250 

Takeoff weight (max), t 340,2 442 560 379,7 392 640 

Load (max), t — 140 — 100 120 250 

Takeoff thrust,kN 4*222,4 4*296 4*360 4*191,3 4*230 6*230 

Crew, men 3 2 2 5 6 7 

Date of the first flight 9.02.1969 8.02.2010 27.04.2005 30.061968 24.12.1982 21.12.1988 

Produced, units 1446 22 77 133 56 1 

Ruslan Chief Designer (now Volga-Dnepr technical Director) Viktor Tolmachev is sure that design work 

on a new plane “should have been started yesterday”. 

like to receive royalties from each newly 

built aircraft, while the Russian side 

considers An‑124 a joint intellectual pro‑ 

perty, since it was built during the soviet 

era, and the whole scientific basis of the 

aircraft, for example, the airfoil proposed 

by TsAGI, is originally from Russia. But 

here is some progress already: the sides 

have expressed their intention to create a 

joint Russian‑Ukrainian company, which 

will assume the role of the integrator in 

the project for resuming production of 

An‑124. According to the Volga‑Dnepr 

President Alexey Isaikin, “the creation of 

this joint venture will also help to solve 

the problems of intellectual property on 

the plane.” 

It should be noted that all of a sud‑ 

den in the statements of some state offi‑ 

cials the parameters of the business plan 

have changed: the minimum required 

order grew up to 60 machines, the cost of 

pre‑production — up to 20 billion rubles, 

and the price of the aircraft — up to $ 

300 million, and it has again “raised the 

bar” of delay reasons. 

It seems that a situation has formed 

where it is necessary not to unravel but to 

cut “the Gordian knot”. According to the 

Head of analytical service of the Aviaport 

agency Oleg Panteleyev, “when the War 

Department come short of their Ruslans, 

or the tasks volume changes, then we 

can expect a more dynamic solving of 

the problem. However, this question is 

politicized, and much also depends on 

the position of the Ukrainian leadership, 

“ said the expert. �

The fuTure ruslan: whaT are The differences 

cockpiT (as it is) cockpiT (as it will be) 

piloTs` insTrumenT panel (as it is) piloTs` insTrumenT panel (as it will be) 

Load – range chart 

crew and 

replacemenT crew 

cockpiT 

(as is) 

crew and 

replacemenT crew 

cockpiT 

(as will be) 

Replacement and reduction of 

cockpit internal equipment 

Engines 

Max. takeoff weight, t 

Curb weight, t 

Max. payload, t 

Max. landing weight, t 

Cruising speed, km / h 

The ceiling, m 

Flight range, km: 

- with a cargo of 150 tons 




- ferry 

Max. fuel, t 

Dimensions of cargo cabin, m: 

- width 

- height 

- length (with ramp) 

Fuel efficiency g / tkm 

Navigator 

Pilots 

Radioman 

Load master 

Tester Load master 

Flight engineer 1 and 2 

Flight engineer 

Replacement crew rest WC 

compartments, 

snack bar and wardrobe 

Replacement crew rest 

compartments, snack 

bar and wardrobe 

The main performance 

characTerisTics 

WC 

Power equipment 

1,800 kg 

Equipment bay 

Power equipment 

600 kg 

Equipment bay

20 

Development of regional aviation is hampered by lack of aircraft, flight personnel 

shortages, inadequate terrestrial infrastructure. According to experts, it is possible 

to reconstruct everything by joint efforts of government and business, provided 

there is a stable demand for air travel by the public. The Ulyanovsk Region is ready to 

participate actively in the first two problems solving. 

vADiM PilUkov 

Local time 

regions strive into the sky 

Russian regional aviation is still in deep 

crisis, and only lately there have been some 

growth symptoms. As it was said in May 

at Rosaviatsya board, the number of cities 

connected by air transport has reduced 

from 2200 at the beginning of the 1990s 

to 800 today, the number of transported 

passengers has decreased by 15 times, 

and passenger turnover on small aircraft 

— by 50 times. As a result the number of 

the aerodromes used by civil aviation has 

reduced by 4 times. Now 315 airfields are 

listed in the register, 117 of which form 

the supporting airfield network of Rus‑ 

sia. For comparison, in 1992 there were 

1302 aerodromes in the country. About 63 % 

of the aerodromes have got runways with 

artificial covering, 37 % of the runways are 

unpaved. But only a quarter of artificial 

runways have been reconstructed over the 

past 10 years. Currently 12 % of the run‑ 

ways with artificial surface and even 18 % 

unpaved runways require urgent repair. 

Only 70 % of airfields are equipped with 

lighting equipment systems. According to 

Rosaviatsya Head Alexander Neradko, the 

state of Russian airfields network requires 

annual funding in the amount of 65–70 bil‑ 

lion rubles, but in 2012 it is planned to al‑ 

locate only 42.5 billion rubles from the state 


vladimir Lamzin 

budget to finance airports. These figures 

were announced on June, 26 this year in 

the course of the Round table conducted by 

the Federation Council “Regional air trans‑ 

portation and air transport infrastructure 

of the Russian Federation” (co‑organized by 

the Government of the Ulyanovsk region). 

Valentina Matvienko called the situation 

critical. 

It is more expensive inside 

At the same Round table it was noted 

that it is a unique situation today in Rus‑ 

sia when flying within the country is more 

expensive than abroad. The reason is a 

number of interrelated factors.


Local time 

Over the past 15 years the air transporta‑ 

tion market has deformed strongly. On the 

one hand, there is a serious competition 

between the major airlines which serve 

the routes connecting Moscow with major 

regional and administrative centers, and 

on the other hand — interregional and 

feeder lines are left without service. Thus, 

according to the Ministry of Transport, the 

share of Moscow air hub airports in total 

air transportation volume has grown from 

25 % to 50 % from the beginning of the 1990s. 

In this case, for example, in order to get on 

a plane from Ulyanovsk to Novosibirsk you 

need to make a transshipment in the capi‑ 

tal. The share of passengers in Moscow or 

St. Petersburg who fly non‑stop on domestic 

lines has fallen from 30 % to 15 % for the last 

9 years and continues to decline. 

There is an unfortunate situation with 

the air companies flying on regional air‑ 

lines. In recent years their number has 

reduced from 31 to 21. As noted by Alexander 

Neradko, in market economy conditions 

only the strongest operators survive, those 

who carry out transportation mainly on in‑ 

ternational air routes and between major 

cities in Russia. According to him, this is 

due to the fact that local low income com‑ 

munity does not allow airlines to appoint 

commercially reasonable tariffs, and as a 

result the flight on the local lines became 

unprofitable. 

However, the situation is not so clear. 

Thus, on the route from Moscow to St. 

Petersburg every air company is ready to 

work even at a loss. At the same time, for 

example, on the route from Moscow to 

Ulan‑Ude just one carrier is working, and 

prices there are for tens of percent higher 

than on the route from Moscow to Irkutsk, 

where the flights are carried out by four air 

companies. According to Deputy Head of the 

Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) Anatoly 

Golomolzin, the high price of ticktheeets is 

just the result of lack of competition 

between the air companies, of speculative 

prices for aviation fuel and inflated cost of 

airport services. “In recent years the FAS 

has filed 40 cases against airport fueling 

facilities, who had raised prices for kerosene 

by 30 %. Those who suffer from this above 

all are regional air carriers, because those 

who serve international airlines can refuel 

abroad, where fuel is cheaper,” he said. 

When taking Paris, ensure 

Novgorod 

For resolving this problem it is proposed 

to revive the work of a number of closed 

airports and to invite private investors to 

take them to the management in order 

to increase the number of air routes. Cur‑ 

rently all airports are state property, so 

even the local authorities concerned in 

the development of interregional air serv‑ 

State civil aviation research institute data 

ices, with rare exceptions, cannot spend 

their own funds for their maintenance. As 

for the air companies, the RF Ministry of 

Transport consider it expedient to attract 

airlines to serve the inter‑regional routes 

on a competitive basis with the condition 

of providing benefits to a certain timeline 

to enter the break‑even operations and with 

the subsequent removal of subsidies. At the 

Round table in the Federation Council an 

opinion was suggested in favor of introduc‑ 

ing a charge for major air companies on the 

principle of “if you take Paris you must also 

ensure Novgorod.” 

Deputy Minister of Transport of Rus‑ 

sia Valery Okulov considers that “first of 

all we must maintain a passenger, espe‑ 

cially low income population. We focus on 

young people, students, and pensioners,” 

he stressed. Okulov also offers to think 

over a mechanism of building the planar 

structures of airports, when “construction 

of planar structures (runway and a place 

for taxiing) together with commercial 

facilities, including business center, termi‑ 

nals, and so on, is wrapped in a package.” 

According to him, “we get a pretty decent 

payback time. And, for example, the entire 

Munich Airport with all its infrastructure 

was built exactly on this principle.” 

According to chief editor of AviaPort 

agency Oleg Panteleyev, the state should 

not invest money into what is necessary 

and beneficial for private traders: “Believe 

me, both manufacturers of aircraft and 

airfields owners can earn money in Russia,” 

he said. “But to make it all a sustainable 

and profitable business we must create 

the conditions in the form of an improved 

regulatory framework with a differenti‑ 

ated set of requirements for air carriers. 

And meanwhile the rules are the same for 

those who have Boeings 747 and for those 

who fly An‑2. Another thing is providing 

transport accessibility in remote areas. It is 

already a social function of the state. You’ve 

got to help to purchase equipment, to help 

The number of aerodromes 

to maintain the airfields. But what if the 

budget has no money, and it is necessary to 

provide flights? There is only one answer: 

we must reduce costs. Due to the imperfect 

regulatory framework air companies and 

airports are forced by the state to let their 

money away, and then with its last strength 

the state squeezes a coin from the Treasury 

to subsidize the same company. It is neces‑ 

sary to simplify the requirements and to 

reduce the tax burden. Then, perhaps, it 

will have to spend less on subsidies.” 

the region comes to help 

“Regional aviation should be restored, and 

the Ulyanovsk region has got several pro‑ 

posals according to the two perhaps most 

acute problems of the industry, lack of 

modern aircraft and qualified staff short‑ 

age,” notes the region Governor Sergey 

Morozov. 

According to the Russian Air Transport 

Operators Association, the average age of 

aircraft in russian civil aviation is 20 years. 

A regional park of domestic planes is formed 

by aircraft (An‑2, An‑24, An‑26, Yak‑40, and 

L‑410) which are mostly morally and tech‑ 

nically obsolete. According to the Center 

for strategic research, the most popular 

types of sizes of the regional aircraft are the 

aircraft with 30–50 seats. Modern Russian 

aircraft industry is not able to provide the 

air transport companies with the aircraft 

they need: An‑140 (50 seats) and An‑148 

(75 seats) are produced in single quantities, 

and therefore their cost (mainly due to the 

components) is unreasonably high; and 

the release of IL‑114 is discontinued and is 

unlikely to resume. In the UAC the devel‑ 

opment of new machines of this class is 

not conducted. 

Moreover, the construction of 

such aircraft abroad was also stopped. 

“Throughout the world there was an in‑ 

crease in passenger traffic on those lines 

where formerly the planes for 50 peo‑ 

ple or less flew,” said Oleg Panteleyev. 

indicators of the transport strategy 

fact 

Year 

The number of Russia airports, Class A, B and C for years. Actual and forecast.

22 

Local time 

“Now there are either turboprop aircraft, or 

a more spacious jet. As a result, the 150 — 

seat aircraft are sold more than 50 — seat. 

I think it is necessary to make a revolu‑ 

tion in technology to get the costs on Bom‑ 

bardier CRJ200 aircraft type comparable 

with larger machines.” 

Therefore perhaps the only alternative 

for regional air carriers are the used for‑ 

eign planes. But, according to Mr. Pan‑ 

teleyev, the purchase and maintenance of 

such aircraft costs a pretty penny for air 

companies: “You have to pay a lot for pilot 

training abroad, for MRO (we have less 

specialists and centers where the works 

could be made, and respectively, the prices 

are higher). Plus customs problems — you 

have to pay import duty for the aircraft it‑ 

self and for spare parts.” 

“Aircraft construction,” continues Oleg 

Panteleyev, “is a very expensive industry, 

entrance fee is too high to build the aircraft 

only to meet domestic demand. The Russian 

market will not pay off such a production; 

it is necessary to build and sell airplanes 

more than our air companies are willing 

to buy and to make a plane competitive by 

world standards.” 

Management of the Ulyanovsk re‑ 

gion is confident that the production of 

just such an aircraft will soon begin in 

the aviation port special economic zone 

(PSEZ) in Ulyanovsk. This is a Canadian 

19‑seater aircraft DHC‑6 Twin Otter Series 

400. As they say in the producing com‑ 

pany Vityaz Aircraft Plant, Twin Otter 

has been manufactured in Canada from 

1965 to 1988 (now 584 aircraft are ope‑ 

rated around the world). “The plane can 

be described as one of the best in its class 

to work in harsh weather conditions,” 



says the official website of the company. 

“In April, 2001 the aircraft evacuated the 

staff of the Antarctic Amundsen‑Scott 

station at a temperature of –75 C.” In 

2006 the Canadian company Viking Air 

Limited started to revive the Twin Otter 

and the creation of its new 400th series, 

taking the best from the previous version 

and applying modern technologies, ma‑ 

terials, and equipment. Market research 

by Conklin & de Decker company shows 

that in the next 10 years only outside 

Russia at least 400 aircraft of this type 

will be sold. 

Vityaz Aircraft Plant was one of the 

PSEZ first three residents with investments 

of more than 450 million rubles. Besides, 

negotiations are going on with the Czech 

company Evektor to open in Ulyanovsk 

PSEZ a production of a new 14‑seat turbo‑ 

prop aircraft EV‑55. Mr. Morozov notes that 

the region is ready to cooperate with other 

producers:”It will allow to solve the prob‑ 

lem of the lack of regional aircraft as soon 

as possible and thus to ensure the revival 

of local air transportation in Russia.” 

The RF Ministry of Transport estimates 

that today in the country “about 9 million 

people are experiencing strong demand 

for regional aviation (RA), particularly in 

remote regions. The departmental pro‑ 

gram for RA revival will cost 400 billion 

rubles for 5–6 years. 100 billion rubles from 

these money will be needed to update the 

fleet (the needs of the aviation market 

by 2015 will amount to 220 aircraft, by 

2025 — to 710), 250 billion — to develop in‑ 

frastructure, 45 billion — for the new air 

traffic control systems, and 5 billion ru‑ 

bles — for information systems.” 

Michael Uryvaev, General Director of 

the RusLine air company, specializing in 

regional air travel, refers to an acute short‑ 

age of personnel as the main problem of 

the industry. “We participate in design‑ 

ing a strategic program of development 

of regional aviation in the Volga federal 

distrit,” he says. “We want to take an active 

part in it, having the experience, person‑ 

nel, and aircraft. We are ready to increase 

flights, but we do not have enough pilots.” 

The air company considers the Ulyanovsk 

Civil Aviation High School (UVAU GA) one of 

the main sources of recruitment of person‑ 

nel, but admits that graduates have to be re‑ 

trained, “putting a lot of money into it” (the 

base of the RusLine fleet are Bombardier 

CRJ 100/200 aircraft).However, in UVAU 

GA they declare that “soon the process of 

equipping school with modern simula‑ 

tors will be completed, and a full‑fledged 

training center for training and retraining 

of pilots, which meets all modern require‑ 

ments, will be created.” 

In order to solve the problems of regional 

aviation issues and to develop recommen‑ 

dations the Governor of the Ulyanovsk 

region proposed to form an interagency 

working group from representatives of 

Ministries of Defense, Transport, Industry 

and Trade, of Rosaviatsya, of the regions, 

and of representatives of science and busi‑ 

ness communities, as well as to create an 

association of aviation regions of Russia, 

which “will coordinate the efforts of re‑ 

gions to develop measures of state support 

of regional and local air transportation” 

(it is expected that the signing of the found‑ 

ing documents of the Association will be 

held at the International air transport 

forum 2012). 

However, the General Director of State 

Research Institute of Civil Aviation Profes‑ 

sor Vasily Shapkin believes that “the local 

aviation market, despite its social signifi‑ 

cance and state support, has stagnated due 

to the low level of effective demand.” And 

this issue is not so easy to solve. “We need 

to develop the regional economy, then 

there will be real, not artificial demand for 

regional aircraft. Where there is a need, the 

same UTair air company works pretty well,” 

adds the Head of the Infomost Consulting 

company Boris Rybak. �

volga dnepr 


At the start 

a brand with a glass cockpit 

The first stage of the project on deeply modernized 

IL-76MD-90A aircraft assembly has finished in Ulyanovsk 

vikToriA CHernySHovA 

At the beginning of June at the aircraft 

construction plant Aviastar SP the first 

model of IL‑76MD‑90A aircraft was sent 

to the flight test complex (FTC). The work 

on deep modernizing of IL‑76 which in the 

soviet time was produced by Tashkent air‑ 

craft production named after Chkalov has 

taken five years. Aviators plan to show the 

result of their work at the international air 

transport forum 2012. 

In the nearest ten years the IL produc‑ 

tion must become the main project at the 

Ulyanovsk aircraft plant, providing an 

unprecedented loading of its capacity. 

Digital revolution 

The decision to transfer IL‑76 planes pro‑ 

duction to Ulyanovsk was taken in March, 

2006 by the RF President. Why was Aviastar 

chosen? “Our plant was built to produce 

large planes. At the time when the deci‑ 

sion was taken nobody spoke about Ruslan 

production, and there was a need to load 

Ulyanovsk with some work,” says Aviastar 

SP General Director Sergey Dementiev. 

“On April 3rd, 2006 there was an emer‑ 

gency meeting of senior management of 

Aviastar. As early as at 11 pm that day we 

sent a proposal to the United Aircraft Cor‑ 

poration on production facilities, person‑ 

nel, level of digital technology, cooperation 

with other plants, possible rate of produc‑ 

tion, and other necessary data. On July 14, 

2006 there came the order of the Russian 

government to organize the production 

of IL‑76 in Russia. The project was code‑ 

named 476,” recalls the Deputy technical 

Director of Aviastar SP Sergei Milukov. 

The Ulyanovsk aircraft factory was to 

make a “digital revolution” in a short time: 

it had to move from a plazma template 

method of production to digital technology. 

The process was quite labor intensive, and 

parallel with digitization of the drawings 

the information technologies training of 

employees was going on. IL‑76MD‑90A was 

the first “paperless” project of Aviastar. In 

Moscow the drawings were digitized, and in 

Ulyanovsk they were run on machines with 

programmed control. Only a small portion 

of the drawings was produced in paper, for 

example, electrics. When it is worked out on 

the first plane, it will also be converted into 

an electronic model, “says Chief Designer 

of OJSC Ilyshin Victor Livanov. 

Assembling of the “476 product “ 

was going on behind closed doors be‑ 

fore the start of 2012. The new aircraft 

was first shown to journalists in Janu‑ 

ary during a visit of Deputy Prime 

Minister Dmitry Rogozin to Aviastar.

24 

At the start 

It was then that he first announced the in‑ 

formation about the state order for the up‑ 

dated aircraft: “Large deliveries of these air‑ 

craft for the Defense Ministry are to begin 

within the 2014–2015.” During the visit of 

Deputy Prime Minister it was a question of 

several dozen of planes. During the rollout 

of IL‑76MD‑90 in the FTC Mr. Dementiev 

said that the market demand for these 

planes until 2025, according to experts, will 

be up to 190 aircraft. Presumably, 90 of them 

can be ordered by the Ministry of Defense, 

and the rest — by civil airlines. 

Compliance with the future 

Aviastar stocks have already descended 

a resource pattern (truncated version of 

glider with a wing) and a flight pattern. 

The resource IL is now in Zhukovsky at 

the Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute 

TsAGI. The flight pattern is being prepared 

to take off from FTC at the Ulyanovsk Vos‑ 

tochny airport. The updated aircraft is quite 

seriously different from its “predecessor”. 

It has a different construction of the wing, 

designed for greater maximum takeoff 

weight (210 tons vs. 190). “In the middle of 

the base machine wing there was a slot, at 

that time it was the only variant that those 

technologies allowed. Now there are whole 

24‑meter panels. It has dramatically in‑ 

creased the wing resource,” explained 

Mr. Livanov. The aircraft lifting capacity 

has increased from 40 to 60 tons. 

The upgraded aircraft is equipped with 

new PS‑90A‑76 engines from Perm with a 

thrust of 16 tons each. The plane is made in 

compliance with the standards of ICAO, 

Eurocontrol, and FAA USA. In addition, 

it is built with regard for the future: it cor‑ 

responds to those standards that yet have 

not come into force. 

According to the documents the as‑ 

signed resource of the modernized ma‑ 

chine is 35 years of operation. The designers 

are hoping to extend it to 45 years. 

“The upgraded plane has got a complete‑ 

ly different, modern avionics. For example, 

the perspective flight navigation complex 

Kupol III allows operation in compliance 

with all international requirements. The 

digital autopilot ensures landing accord‑ 

ing to the second ICAO category: the air‑ 

craft descends to a height of 30 meters in 

an automatic mode and then executes 

landing already in the manual mode 

(earlier IL‑76 was flying according to the 

first ICAO category where the decision 

making height is 60 meters). The innova‑ 

tion is very important: it allows expanding 

the scope of aircraft operation, primarily in 

Europe, where landing is allowed in more 

difficult weather conditions. 30 meters is in 

fact the land already. Of course, this is 

not the third category, as in most modern 

foreign aircraft, which allow bringing the 

plane to the ground on autopilot, but it’s 

something. We have to work it over yet,” 

said the Chief Engineer of OJSC Ilyushin 

Andrew Yurasov. 

One more significant innovation is the 

so — called glass cockpit. This is a numeric 

field indicating aircraft systems and equip‑ 

ment. In place of electromechanical devices 

with arrows now there are monitors in 

the cockpit (in this case, there are eight 

of them, six for the pilots and two for the 

navigator), sized 6 by 8 inches. “The infor‑ 

mation field contains indication of pilot‑ 

ing characteristics, speed, and altitude. 


It displays gyro horizon and functioning 

of various systems. Not all the parameters 

are indicated yet, but we’re working on it. 

“Glass cockpit” is more informative: it is 

much easier for a pilot to perceive a com‑ 

pact frame, where he immediately sees the 

spatial position of the aircraft and its speed, 

altitude, and other piloting parameters,” 

says Mr. Yurasov. 

awaiting a flight 

The OJSC Ilyushin representatives state 

that the modified plane can become a seri‑ 

ous competitor to western air “trucks.” “It 

has no analogues in the class of aircraft 

ramp. IL‑76MD can be operated in any 

climatic conditions, with virtually no re‑ 

strictions. This is confirmed by tests in the 

Arctic, Antarctica, and in African states,” 

says Andrey Yurasov. “The plane is very 

unpretentious as compared to the western 

aircraft. It can be operated autonomously, 

by the flight crew forces. This is especial‑ 

ly important for operation in remote areas, 

cut off from civilization.” 

The aircraft has got redundant systems. 

There is a list of minimum equipment 

that allows flying with some failure that 

does not affect the maintenance of air‑ 

worthiness. “Thus Il is cheaper in service, 

it is more unpretentious and is adapted 

for autonomous operation,” Mr. Yurasov 

sums up. 

“We studied the market: the upgrad‑ 

ed aircraft is interesting both in Russia 

and abroad. It occupies its own niche. 

Il‑76MD‑90 is not as expensive as Ameri‑ 

can planes. It is versatile: it can be suc‑ 

cessfully used in emergency situations — 

for example, for fire fighting, as a tanker, 

vladimir Lamzin


At the start 

Aviastar Sp General Director is sure that 

the modernized plane is interesting both in 

Russia and abroad 

for military purposes — for transporting 

military vehicles, soldiers, their landing. 

And as well for the carriage of goods by civil 

airlines,” Mr. Dementiev states. 

“The aircraft has proven itself. We 

are asked why we have left the name of 

the IL‑76MD, although it could be called 

differently. It’s simple: it’s a brand that is 

known around the world, “explains Mr. 

Livanov. 

Now the main customer is the Defense 

Ministry, and it creates certain difficul‑ 

ties. “It is rather hard to get a type certifi‑ 

cate for this plane. We are still at the very 

beginning,” Mr. Yurasov explains. “The 

program provides for the phased bringing 

to conformity with the requirements of 

the Defense Ministry technical project. 

The project is very serious and large. It im‑ 

plies installating a communication set and 

a defense set on the plane. The plane will 

perform its first flight in Ulyanovsk and 

will pass a series of tests at the Aviastar 

base. In November we will surpass it to 

Zhukovsky for presentation to the Defense 

Ministry test center which will hold the 

state testing. Then the aircraft gets the 

appropriate act and is adopted by the order 

of the Defense Minister. And after that it 

starts being supplied to the army.” 


For civil air companies there is a proce‑ 

dure for aircraft operation admission where 

two ministries take part, of transport and 

of industry and trade. That is the so — called 

addition to the airworthiness certificate. 

Now three serial IL‑76MD‑90A planes 

are laid down at the aircraft plant. What 

equipment will they get depends on who 

will order them. According to Mr. Demen‑ 

tiev, there are no firm contracts for the 

plane so far: ”Everybody waits for the first 

flight, and then, I believe, the customers 

will appear.” 

Personnel without deficit 

“The project is very significant for Aviastar: 

we needed to find a product that would en‑ 

sure normal operation of the plant for many 

years. I think the 76th plane is exactly such 

a product. It will become a start for promo‑ 

tion of the next project, the production of 

An‑124,” Mr. Dementiev says. 

The optimistic plan is to produce 16 mod‑ 

ified IL‑76MD a year to 2016. There has 

never been such a loading at the Ulyanovsk 

aircraft plant. Sergey Dementiev claims 

that the existing facilities are enough for 

assembling up to 9 planes yearly. And then 

the plant will need to develop capacities. 

“We have got a planning solution to this, 

and what we need is time and funding. 

The most expensive is equipment, and 

the most valuable are people,” stresses Mr. 

Dementyev. 

According to Viktor Livanov, at the first, 

preparatory stage of the project there was 

shortage of the engineers staff. Starting 

the IL‑76MD series will put the plant in 

front of the shortage of workers of basic 

specialties: the company is supposed to 

accept up to five thousand new employ‑ 

ees. “We are already preparing to recruit 

people for an increase in capacity. When 

Aviastar pays good salaries and our hous‑ 

ing program works at its full capacity, it 

will attract people”, — says Sergey De‑ 

mentiev. 

comment 

The fact that salaries in the aviation in‑ 

dustry should be lifted was mentioned 

by Dmitry Rogozin during his visit to 

Ulyanovsk: “As part of the state defense 

order, while formating the prices of final 

products, in my opinion, it is necessary to 

provide such a rate of return that would 

raise the salary at the defense enterprises 

above the “average in the hospital”, that is, 

in the region. This is a very important 

aspect to be discussed with the Ministry 

of defense.” 

Nobody knows what is the return rate 

of the updated IL‑76MD, its price has not 

yet been announced. So far the aircraft 

plant is actively engaged in technical re‑ 

equipment with the main aim of reducing 

the cost of manufactured aircraft. In July 

there were launched two high speed centers 

of the American firm MAG, which will be 

engaged in handling large parts made of dif‑ 

ferent materials for the entire line of aircraft 

produced, including those for IL‑76MD‑90. 

Equipment was purchased under the federal 

target program. “Enacting this complex 

opens a new era in the equipment produc‑ 

tion at the plant,” — said technical Director 

of Aviastar SP Viktor Kulakov. 

Meanwhile 

Aviastar continues to work on other projects. 

The plant is involved in modernization of 

Ruslans from the Defense Ministry fleet. In 

parallel, according to Mr. Dementiev, the 

plant is in a deep cooperation in the frame‑ 

work of the MS‑21 project. The installation 

of interiors for the SSJ‑100 planes began. If 

the production of An‑70 is organized, Uly‑ 

anovsk is likely to supply some elements for 

this aircraft. The distant perspective (2019) 

is a program for the assembly of transport 

aircraft MTA. 

“Tu‑204SM is passing certification tests, 

and, according to the plans, this year it 

should get a preliminary certificate. I think 

after that the customer of this machine may 

appear,” specified Sergey Dementiev. � 

the senior analyst of rikom trust investment company 

Vladislav Zhukovsky: 

“It is yet difficult to say if the project will have commercial success, it depends on the demand 

for these planes and on the possibilities to promote them abroad. Aerospace industry is still 

one of the most developed in Russian economy, it retains its capacity, but the technology is 

outdated. Many components cannot be produced in Russia on an industrial scale, although it is 

fundamentally important. The SSJ‑100 project did not affect the raising of domestic high‑ 

tech industries: 80 percent of the parts for it are made abroad. 

We need to create the demand. It is extremely difficult to compete with Boeing and Airbus. It is 

due to the effect of production scale and the fact that these manufacturers have the ability 

to understate prices through access to cheap credit. Thus, we must try to overcome the 

negative trend, where more than 95 % of purchases of Russian airlines are the purchase of used 

foreign vehicles. It is necessary to stimulate demand, to give preferences to the aircompanies 

which purchase domestic aircraft: tax incentives, loans. Otherwise things could get grim.”

The main differences 

of iL-76md-90a from iL-76md 

Old cOckpit 

� 

� cnsd (complex navigation situation display) 

� casLsd (complex indicator of aircraft systems 

and light-signaling devices) 

� ifdi (integrated flight director indicator) 

� control unit - 56 mn from acs kit 

� display control panel module 

� reverse control levers 

� engine control levers 

� aircraft systems indicator remote control 

� � � � � � 

� 

� 

� 

� 

New cOckpit 

The pLane has been projecTed 

and produced by digiTaL TechnoLogies 

Il-76-MD TAPA 

(Tashkent aviation production 

association named after Chkalov) 

IL-76MD-90A 

CJSC Aviastar SP 

ProDuCeD AT TAPA CJSC Aviastar SP 

DATe of fIrST fLyIng SAMPLe ProDuCTIon 1981 2012 

PerfoMAnCe: 

Maximum takeoff weight, t 190 210 

Maximum landing weight, t 151,500 170 

Maximum load, t 47 60 

Cruising speed, km/h 750-780 750-800 

Flight range, km 4000 5000 (at 52 t) 

Length of the takeoff run with a takeoff weight, m 1750 1600 (М.takeoff= 210 т) 

Maximum operating overload 1,8 2,3 

Length, m/ cargo cabin volume, m3 AIrCrAfT DeSIgn: 

24,5/321 24,5/321 

Wing 

Basic in accordance with 

specifications 

New constructions for G 

takeoff max = 210 t 

Chassis 



Reinforced for 210 t 

Cockpit 



8 LCD monitors in the 

cockpit 

Crew 7 men 6 men 

Engines 

TRDD 4х D30KP 4 х 12000 

kgs 

TRDD 4 х PS-90А-76 4 х 

16000 kgs 

Engines ACS ACS RED-90 8-series 

APU 

AIrCrAfT eQuIPMenT: 

ТА-6А TA-12A 

Navigation aerobatic complex NAC Kupol III analog Kupol III digital 

Automatic control system 

perfomance comparison of il-76 planes produced 

at tApA and at Aviastar Sp 

ACS-1T-2B (analog) landing 

on the I ICAO cat 

ACS-76 (digital) landing 

on the II ICAO cat. 

Note: The open NAC architecture allows the use of Russian and foreign production equipment in the complex 

Improving the characteristics of IL-76 MD-90 A produced by Aviastar: 

- Improvement of thrust and take-off and landing characteristics 

(highlands); 

- Improved fuel efficiency (12%); 

- Increased level of repairs fitness and maintenance; 

- Increased flight range (18%); 

- Alignment with ICAO standards on emission of harmful substances and noise 

(Chapter 4, adj. 16). 

ps-90a-76 engines �, corresponding 

by the level of noise and emission to 

chapter 4 of icao and with lower fuel 

consumption (12%) as compared with 

d-30 Kp engines 

Аuxiliary power unit. apu Ta-12a � 

increased take-off weight of aircraft 

from 190 t to 210 t 

payload of 47 to 60 tons due to new 

reinforced wing � and reinforced 

chassis � 

neW avionics: 

• The “glass cockpit» 

• Navigation aerobatic complex «Kupol 

iii” � 

• Integrated electronic indication and 

alarm system Kseis � 

• Digital system of automatic 

management of acs-76 � 

allows to provide landing for category 

ii and requirements of the icao in the 

rnp and rvsm parts 

• Information Complex of altitude and 

velocity parameters vsp-112v � 

• Block – receiver for satellite navigation 

bpsn-2 � 

avionics components were replaced at 

the modern level (made in the present 

time), including the use of energyefficient 

Led lighting

28 

To the park! 

comfort zone 

The industrial parks have got different fate but one 

common goal 

PSEZ in close vicinity to international airport Ulyanovsk Vostochny is a bright example of cluster development 

In the pursuit of investors undoubtedly those russian regions have got a competitive 

advantage that have industrial zones — areas where more favorable conditions 

for investment are created. Ulyanovsk Region is one of the three leaders in 

organization of this “comfort”. 


The work that was begun in 2008 is pay‑ 

ing off today. Ulyanovsk industrial zone 

Zavolzhye is considered to be one of the 

most effective industrial sites in Russia. 

Total investments for the ruble cost of in‑ 

vestment is related as 20 to 1. “There are 

no such indicators in the country today,” 

said Minister of Strategic Development 

and Innovation of the Ulyanovsk region 

Alexander Smekalin (besides Zavolzhye, 

three more investment industrial zones, 

a port special economic zone, and in‑ 

dustrial parks of the Brownfield type 

based on UAZ and DAAZ are formed in 

the region). 

According to the Chairman of the As‑ 

sociation of Industrial Parks of Russia 

Maxim Ivanov, the most serious system‑ 

ic investments are now made into new in‑ 

dustrial areas, among others. “Industrial 

zones make the country more competitive, 

entirely new conditions for business are 

created there: the investor can come to the 

site with existing infrastructure. But it is 

also the development of a large number of 

“secondary businesses” both in the indus‑ 

trial zone and next to it, and in other sectors 

of the economy,” said Mr. Ivanov. 


S e Z J Sc 

SeZ JSk 

Competing with the fed 

Industrial zone (or industrial park) is 

an area specially organized to accom‑ 

modate new productions, having energy 

sources, infrastructure, necessary ad‑ 

ministrative and legal conditions, and 

controlled by a specialized company. 

An investor coming here is able to start 

building his business “directly tomor‑ 

row”. There are not many formed in‑ 

dustrial zones in Russia: according to 

the Association of industrial parks, 

their number, with different quality 

of infrastructure development, does 

not exceed 50.


To the park! 

“Today there is a serious problem, the 

lack of a single legislative field associated 

with industrial parks. I am often asked how 

do industrial park differ from special eco‑ 

nomic zones or industrial zones. There is 

still no established common terminol‑ 

ogy. Starting from this year we want to 

give more attention to working with the 

Duma in terms of lobbying a law on indus‑ 

trial parks as a separate subject of industrial 

development in the country. We cannot ig‑ 

nore such a large number of investment 

projects, of people involved in the process, 

the interest backed by solid volume of in‑ 

vestment funds,” said Maxim Ivanov. 

Despite the legislative gaps that are 

not closed yet, the Ulyanovsk region‑ 

al industrial zone Zavolzhye is accepting 

new residents. This site was among the 

first in Russia to receive in 2011 the cer‑ 

tified status of an operating industrial 

park. The total volume of private invest‑ 

ment in the industrial park currently has 

reached 17 billion rubles; from the federal 

and regional budgets 735 million rubles 

are directed for its development. At the 

same time the budgetary investment has 

already paid off. 

Furnished in an open field (site Green‑ 

field) in a literal sense, the industrial zone is 

a prime location: close to Ulyanovsk, near 

the main highway, the international air‑ 

port, and the railway line. Plus preferences: 

residents of Zavolzhye are exempt from 

property tax, land and transport tax, and 

the rate of tax on profits in the part to 

be credited to the budget is reduced by 

4.5 %. In addition, the budget of the Uly‑ 

anovsk region subside investors’ costs in 

the amount of taxes paid on profits and 

personal income. Thus, in the first 8 years 

of the project the investor does not actually 

pay taxes to the regional budget. “We have 

decided to extend the preferences from 8 to 

10 years of investors’ work,” says the Head 

ulyanovsk region development corporation 

Ulyanovsk region Governor enacts the construction of the Takata Petri plant. President of Takata 

Corporation Shigehiza Takada is satisfied with advantageous location of the plant 

of the Ulyanovsk Region Development 

Corporation (URDC) Dmitry Ryabov. “To‑ 

day it is becoming one of our competitive 

advantages.” 

Mr. Ryabov said that this year the main 

trend in the leading Russian industrial 

zones is full exemption of residents from 

payment for infrastructure. “If an investor 

formerly could finance something else at 

his own expense, now the situation has 

changed dramatically. Large investors 

come to our industrial zones on conditions 

of the full cost of infrastructure on the 

part of the subject (the rare exception is 

a payment for electricity). This, to some 

extent, helps to withstand competition 

from the federal special zones,” says Dmitry 

Ryabov. 

Now the main competitors of Zavolzhye 

are federal special zones. “Number one is 

Alabuga, then there are Lipetsk, Kaluga, 

and Togliatti. Other competitors are not 

perseived,” says Executive Director of URDC 

Sergey Vasin. ”We work in the “one win‑ 

dow” mode: seeking investors and “manu‑ 

ally” accompanying each project. Such 

a customer service can be found only in 

5–7 subjects in Russia today, usually they 

are the sites of the federal special economic 

zones. Investors’ demands are different, 

but we’re definitely in the top three for the 

strength of the proposals. “ 

Another important nuance helps to at‑ 

tract investors to the region, “killing” the 

proposals of the federal economic zones. 

“The first places in various ratings — for ex‑ 

ample, of business environment in Russia 

(Doing Business in Russia‑2012) prepared 

by the World Bank and the International 

Finance Corporation, where Ulyanovsk be‑ 

came the leader, and close cooperation with 

Germany have discovered a completely 

different type of investors for the region, 

large companies with world known names. 

SAbMiller site in Zavolzhye industrial zone 

ulyanovsk region development corporation

30 

To the park! 

We could not find them just by address 

treatment. Now they have expressed 

their interest in us. And the german Cham‑ 

ber of Commerce itself begins to send inves‑ 

tors to us. This is a case where the image 

of the region begins to work,” Sergei Vasin 

considers. 

Desires without opportunities 

As a rule industrial zones are located near a 

source of some resources (minerals, labor), 

in the immediate vicinity of the busiest 

rail, road, river, or air transport routes. 

Many are specialized, they become the 

core of a cluster developing in the area. For 

example, the emerging Novoulyanovsk in‑ 

dustrial zone, thanks to extensive reserves 

of chalk and cement raw materials, is likely 

to be specialized in production of building 

materials. 

However, the URDC does not believe 

that the uniformity of future residents is 

absolutely necessary. Thus, in Zavolzhye, 

Novospasskaya and Karlinskaya industrial 

zones the important advantage is the prox‑ 

imity of highways, railway, and the pres‑ 

ence of labor and social infrastructure in 

the immediate vicinity. “We cannot afford 

to make them on the branch principle, 

there is no such request by investors op‑ 

erating in a single sphere. Limitations in 

these industrial zones are imposed only 

by the sanitary‑protective zone,” says Mr. 

Ryabov. And therefore the set of residents 

of Zavolzhye is most versatile: SABMiller 

and MARS came here first; at the moment 

a factory of Takata company (production 

of automotive components) is being built 

here; the projects of plant construction 

for the german machine‑tool company 

Gildemayster and for the paint coverings 

company Hempel are being conducted, and 

also of a nanotechnology center and of the 

russian — german joint venture Philco‑ 

Volga (issue of modular construction ele‑ 

ments for buildings using nanotechnol‑ 

ogy), an agreement has just been signed 

with german company Jokey Holding 

to invest in the construction of a plant for 

production of plastic packaging in the in‑ 

dustrial zone. 

The absence of “sectoral” restrictions 

attracts investors but creates difficulties: to‑ 

day the entire infrastructure of Zavolzhye is 

physically fully occupied. “We’re starting 

to experience problems with the place‑ 

ment of business,” says Dmitry Ryabov. 

“This year we will design the infrastruc‑ 

ture of the third stage of the industrial 

zone to bring up the location for about 

20 more companies.” The URDC expects 

to get funds for construction (600 million) 

at Vnesheconombank. Altogether the Uly‑ 

anovsk application “pulls” for three and 

a half billion rubles, taking into account 

the funds required for the development of 

Karlinskaya and Novoulyanovskaya in‑ 

dustrial zones, as well as for the construc‑ 

reSidentS aLLocation Scheme in ZavoLZhye induStriaL Zone 

Residential area 

250 thousand people 

5 km 

takata 

44, passage ingenerny 

17,passage Ingenerny 

Railroad 

48, passage Ingenerny 

Dimitrovgrad highway – Samara 

11, passage Ingenerny 


tion of mainline networks to port special 

economic zone. 

For Novosspasskaya industrial zone 

which is similar to Zavolzhye by its at‑ 

tractive location (near the federal high‑ 

way M‑5 Ural and the main railway) an 

agricultural project can become a starting 

one. Currently it is under negotiation. The 

question still remains in the discrepancy 

between desires and possibilities. “We 

have faced a problem: many investors ask 

to provide them with subsidies. But the 

parameters of the regional budget are not 

enough to ensure such a support for each 

request,” explains Mr. Ryabov. 

Accordingly, for Karlinskaya industrial 

zone, located near the federal highway 

M5 Ural and the highway A151 Syzran — 

Tsivilsk, the emergence of a resident who 

wants to create a logistics company, a dis‑ 

tribution center, became logical. 

New competencies 

Meanwhile, URDC increases the com‑ 

petitiveness of industrial zones also by 

developing new competencies of their 

own. This year the Corporation began to 

engage in the design and construction 

of buildings for investors. “We have to 

do it, for we cannot transfer the function 

of the customer to anyone,” explains Mr. 

Ryabov. “The contractors need a project, an 

organization that will be his guide, that 

will ask from him, will take key decisions. 

international airport 

Ulyanovsk Vostochny 

5 km 

Symbols: 

The existing gas pipeline 

The planned gas pipeline 

The existing water supply 

The projected water supply 

Storm sewer 

S / w drainage 

Railroad 

Tapping point 

Ulyanovsk-Samara 

road 

location design developed by Assman 

beraton+Planen (Germany)


To the park! 

So on the basis of the Corporation we 

created a skeleton structure with the 

functions of the customer, we will devel‑ 

op it further.” In URDC there are several 

serious requests from investors who are 

willing to come to the region provided for 

the construction of buildings for them, 

and next year the Corporation intends 

to start construction of an integrated 

small industrial park, or local buildings 

to be leased, for two of these companies. 

One of the buildings, which URDC as a 

customer is already building in the in‑ 

dustrial area, is designed for nanocenter 

(it opens in the 1st quarter of the next 

year). 

Port interest 

A striking example of cluster develop‑ 

ment is realization of the project of Port 

Special Economic Zone (PSEZ). Currently 

the PSEZ advisory council has approved 

five companies’ drafts (first start‑up area 

of 120 hectares can accommodate ap‑ 

proximately 15 residents), three of which 

(Volga‑Dnepr, FL Technics Ulyanovsk, and 

AAR — Rus) intend to engage in technical 

maintenance and repair (MRO) of aircraft, 

and one (InterAvionika) — in maintenance 

and repair of aircraft avionics and assem‑ 

bling components for aircraft instruments 

and avionics. Aviation Plant Vityaz plans 

to build small capacity planes. This “con‑ 

sensus” opens up great opportunities for 

cooperation. Thus, the first phase of the 

AAR — Rus project (a joint project of the 

American corporation AAR and russian 

private investor Mukharbek Aushev) in‑ 

volves creating on PSEZ territory a logis‑ 

tics center for export of aviation parts 

and components to Russia and for storage 

of PSEZ residents’ and other companies’ 

goods, what is of interest for all the rest 

residents. 

S e Z J Sc 

The territory of PSEZ first stage Aircraft construction plant Vityaz will create the production of small 

aviation aircraft Twin otter Series 400 at PSEZ territory 

“Another area of the port zone de‑ 

velopment could be the production of 

composite materials. UAC creates an 

Aerocomposite factory in Ulyanovsk, 

which will manufacture the composite 

wing for the MC‑21 aircraft, and enter‑ 

prises of this business suppliers can be 

accommodated in the zone,” considers 

the Head of the Ulyanovsk branch of 

Special Economic Zones Denis Bary‑ 

shnikov. 

According to Mr. Baryshnikov, an im‑ 

portant addition to the forming PSEZ clus‑ 

ter would be establishment of training 

centers for aviation professionals, in which 

all the residents are interested, “but in 

order to do it education and training for 

aerospace industry, leasing buildings, fa‑ 

cilities, equipment, and tooling must be 

added to the list of activities permitted 

within PSEZ.” 

Invited to the ready sites 

Another example of successful coopera‑ 

tion prospects in the industrial zones is 

the variant of accommodation of new 

production on the ready sites of indus‑ 

trial property (Brownfield) — both on the 

base of individual buildings of enterprises 

and in industrial parks established on the 

basis of existing enterprises. Such coopera‑ 

tion provides the opportunity to interact 

with an existing business, use of exist‑ 

ing technologies and competencies of the 

“owners”. 

In Ulyanovsk region there are two 

Brownfield industrial parks — on the UAZ 

and DAAZ territories. It is more complicated 

to attract investors here than to Green‑ 

field industrial zones: potential partners 

must fit into a strategy for enterprise de‑ 

velopment in the areas where they can ac‑ 

commodate. But the precedent has already 

been created. 

“Today we do a lot of work on concentrat‑ 

ing production at the main conveyor and 

deal with the involvement of partners to 

the vacated areas,” says the UAZ General 

Director Sergey Yurasov. “We reduce the 

overhead: our special cars have moved to 

other areas, and a big manufacturer, the 

company Isuzu, came to the spare areas. 

This project is mutually beneficial: we want 

to develop production of add‑on cars on the 

base of Isuzu chassis. And this means new 

jobs, increase of production.” 

According to Yurasov, the optimization 

of space at the plant will continue. “The 

plant itself comes to the fact that the part‑ 

nership with foreign companies is impor‑ 

tant. We only assist in working together to 

create them. It is planned to create several 

partnerships on the area of automobile 

plant, not only for automobile assembly, 

but also for the production of spare parts,” 

URDC specifies. 

“This year we have come a long way in 

creating an industrial park on the DAAZ,” 

continues Dmitry Ryabov. “We have agreed 

with AvtoVAZ that the plant will recom‑ 

mend DAAZ to all of its suppliers as a plat‑ 

form number one or number two (after 

Togliatti). Dimitrovgrad company manage‑ 

ment offers attractive rental rates, good 

conditions for the entry of investors. We 

provide our package of subsidies, AvtoVAZ 

encourages — we feel that this scheme 

should work.” 

The DAAZ has freed 70,000 square meters 

for the industrial park. Its attractiveness 

for AvtoVAZ partners is certain: there are 

80 km to Togliatti, the premises are ready 

for production placement, they are pro‑ 

vided with all necessary energy resources, 

trained production personnel, and trans‑ 

port communications. If the rental price is 

acceptable, the investors can only focus on 

their operations. �

32 

lUBov CHilikovA 


Under a composite wing 

The well — known soviet song about “steel hands — 

wings” will become outdated in the near future, and in 

relation to some planes it is already irrerlevant. 

Lightweight and durable materials are a 

dream of every designer, and especially in 

aviation where weight matters. Such quali‑ 

ties are possessed by composites, a new 

generation of materials. Composite mate‑ 

rials (CM) are designed for advanced tech‑ 

nology and acquire new properties that do 

not equal the sum of the properties of their 

components. They are used in a wide vari‑ 

ety of industries: in aviation industry, wind 

energy, sporting goods, construction, au‑ 

tomotive, shipbuilding, rocket, nuclear in‑ 

dustry, on the railway, in metallurgy. And it 

was not by chance that at the Innoprom 

2012 forum that took place in Ekaterinburg 

from 12th to 15th July the use of composite 

materials was called one of the four priority 

trends of national industry. 

CM are characterized by high specific 

and fatigue strength, durability, lightness, 

and other qualities. Among their disadvan‑ 

tages is high cost of manufacturing tech‑ 

nology. A plane built with a large number 

of composite parts costs 30 % more. But 

the cost is justified by the fact that lighter 

aircraft require less fuel. 

The use of CM in the aircraft in small 

and unloaded parts and cladding panels 

began in the middle of the last century. 

Composites are now used to produce load‑ 

bearing structures — wings and fuse‑ 

lage. 

In modern aircraft parts made of com‑ 

posite materials may take up to half the 

weight of the plane. For instance, Boeing 

787 Dreamliner is made of composites by 

50 %. According to the experts, russian 

aircraft construction will not be competi‑ 

tive in the 21st century if it does not begin 

to produce planes with a high share of 

CM. The program of MS‑21 aircraft con‑ 

struction suggests that the liner will be 

composed of such materials by 30–40 %. 

Mainline aircraft of the 21st century 

will be built in cooperation with various 

global and domestic partners, including 

Aerocomposite Ulyanovsk, which will 

manufacture the “black wings” for the 


• Composite material is an artificially 

created inhomogenous solid material made from 

two or more components, which in most composites 

(except layered) can be divided into a matrix and 

reinforcements included into it. The composition of 

rubbers (matrix) used in aerospace industry is a lot of 

thermosetting plastics (resins). The most common used 

materials for reinforcement of aviation composites are 

fibers, nonwovens or films made of carbon, glass, or 

aramid. 

machine (named so by the color of carbon 

fiber used to create CM). 

Aerocomposite Ulyanovsk is a subsidiary 

of Moscow Aerocomposite which was cre‑ 

ated in 2008 (26 % of shares are owned by 

Aviation holding company Suhoy, and 74 % 

by JSC UAC). The proprietors of the subsidi‑ 

ary are Aerocomposite and the Ulyanovsk 

Aviastar SP (the later is also participating in 

the program of MS‑21, in July the plant 

has already transferred the first batch of 

samples of carbon filter tail to the Irkut 

corporation). 

Lubov chilikova



On February 15th, 2010 a cooperation 

agreement was signed between the gov‑ 

ernment of the Ulyanovsk region, the UAC, 

and Aerocomposite on the investment 

project of building a plant for production 

of composite structures. In November, 

2011 the foundation was laid for the plant 

construction. 

At the present time on Aviastar produc‑ 

tion site Aerocomposite Ulyanovsk is build‑ 

ing a high‑tech enterprise for producing the 

“black wings” for MS‑21 (hereafter it is also 

planned to work on the program SSJ‑NG). 

The initial sum of investments is 

250 million rubles, half of them are allo‑ 

cated by the state in support of the MS‑21, 

and the rest are bank loans. 

According to General Director of Aero‑ 

composite Anatoly Gaydansky, integral pan‑ 

els of the detachable wings part, center plane 

panels, and longerons will be produced in 

Ulyanovsk. Also here the final assembly of 

the wing will be made from the products 

made in Ulyanovsk and Kazan (in 2010 Ae‑ 

rocomposite on the basis of KAPO (Kazan 

aircraft production association)named after 

Gorbunov created a joint venture to manu‑ 

facture parts of the wing made of composite 

materials — flaps, ailerons, etc.). Further the 

ready wings will go to the Irkutsk aircraft 

plant (part of the Irkut corporation), the 

prime contractor of the MS –21 program. 

The first wings will come out of the 

walls of the Ulyanovsk plant in late 2013. In 

2014 it is planned to release three more sets. 

In general the plant capacity is designed to 

manufacture 30 to 100 wing sets, depend‑ 

ing on the MS‑21 production program. It is 

expected that in 2016 the company will 

make a profit, and in seven years it will 

come on the return on the project. 

At present Aerocomposite together with 

the austrian partner, Fischer Composite 

company, has produced four prototypes of 

the wing. From Austria they were moved to 

TsAGI (Central Aero‑Hydrodynamic Insti‑ 

tute named after Zhukovsky), where they 

are being tested. 

The peculiarity of the composite ma‑ 

terials is the fact that the material and 

the construction made from it are being 

produced simultaneously (with the excep‑ 

tion of prepregs, semi — finished products 

for composite manufacture). In classi‑ 

cal prepreg technologies the reinforcing 

fabric impregnated with a binder is being 

laid into a form, and then under pressure 

and at a high temperature it becomes a 

finished piece, and after processing it can 

be sent to the plain assembly. 

one of the “black wing” prototypes 

for MS-21 produced for testing by the 

Aerocomposite company together with the Shalagin 

austrian partners pavel 

“Coal tape and the binding, epoxy resin, 

will come to Ulyanovsk. The coal tape is 

automatically laid out by specialized ma‑ 

chines and is being impregnated with 

epoxy resin, then solidifies and is polar‑ 

ized in large furnaces,” Mr.Gaydansky 

explained. He claimed that the technol‑ 

ogy of CM manufacture to be applied in 

Ulyanovsk is one of the most advanced 

not only in Russia but in the whole world 

also. 

“There are two ways to manufacture 

composite structures: the prepreg method 

using autoclave, and the infusion one. We 

use the second method. It allows making 

the constructions lighter, with a higher 

degree of integrality, which improves the 

strength characteristics of the product, 

and this method is cheaper by about 15 % 

because it does not use an autoclave. This 

technology is our intellectual property. 

It exists in the world, naturally, we did 

not invent it from the ground, but we have 

significantly upgraded the manufacturing 

process,” said Mr. Gaydansky. He stressed 

that new technologies allow making ma‑ 

jor power structures for aircraft. “We’ve 

never made the details of this size and this 

magnitude, only the elements of mecha‑ 

nization — flaps, rudders, ailerons. Now 

we make a fully composite wing with the 

length of 18 meters, 3 meters in the chord 

and 1 at the bottom. This is a completely 

different level,” the Head of Aerokompo‑ 

site said. 

For connecting the parts into a finished 

wing construction an automated assembly 

line is provided. A spanish company will 

deliver it. It is assumed that in the middle 

of the next year it will be already assembled 

at the plant. 

It is planned that components for the 

products will be purchased abroad, but 

there is a hope that future will bring quality 

russian materials — they are being deve‑ 

loped by All‑Russian Research Institute of 

Aviation Materials VIAM. 

In June the regional government 

and VIAM signed an agreement on coopera‑ 

tion in developing and mastering the pro‑ 

duction of a new generation of polymeric 

composite materials (PCM) and the deve‑ 

lopment of mass production of structural 

components from PCM for various purposes 

(aviation, rail, and road transport). 

Meanwhile Aerocomposite is getting 

engaged in a new generation of materials, 

working with the Ulyanovsk nanocenter on 

the project of thermoplastic goods fabrica‑ 

tion. According to General Director of the 

Ulyanovsk Centre for technology transfer 

Andrey Redkin, consumer properties of 

thermoplastic differ significantly from 

reactoplastic: it has higher resistance to 

breakdown, and what is important — it is 

repairable. The nanocenter is willing to 

work with business partners in order to 

develop technology for production of goods 

from thermoplastics and to manufacture 

products. Production volumes will depend 

on how serious the state support will be. 

The investment project of Aerocompo‑ 

site is being implemented in the format of 

brownfield: the production will be organ‑ 

ized on the base of former Aviastar shop 

(90 thousand square meters). According to 

the Head of the company, the whole build‑ 

ing is being reconstructed, leaving only 

the foundation and the roof. By the end of 

February, 2013 the building is planned to 

be put into operation. 

Compliance with standards in the man‑ 

ufacture of composites requires special 

conditions, so a significant part of the 

production area will be occupied by the so 

‑called “clean rooms” (rooms with a certain 

purity class of dust at the right temperature 

and humidity). 

The plant is gathering personnel. At 

the first stage there will be 150 people to 

work, and when the equipment is in full 

power their number may be increased to 

600. Employees are trained in Moscow, at 

Aerocomposite. �

34 

At the territory of the Ulyanovsk special economic zone (SEZ) of the airport type there 

are already three residents that are going to be engaged in maintenance, repair and 

overhaul (MRO) of the aircraft produced abroad. The experts note that it indicates 

sufficient growth of this service on the Russian territory, but they also point out 

several problems that providers will have to meet. And one of the main problems is 

future lack of aviation engineers and aeromechanics for the operation of aircraft. 

Sergey TiTov 

Synergy 

aviators demand a check 

Foreign aircraft carry maintenance and repair market 

with them 

The three SEZ residents at once are com‑ 

pleting legal registration of land plots, 

and already this autumn they will begin 

to implement projects on MRO centers for 

foreign aircraft. Volga — Dnepr Technics — 

Ulyanovsk (subsidiary of Volga — Dnepr 

company group) plans to carry out main‑ 

tenance and repair of wide — body foreign 

aircraft (Boeing 747) and An‑124–100 Ruslan, 

and in the future, depending on market 

conditions, it can also be engaged in main‑ 

tenance of single aisle aircraft. FL Tech‑ 

nics (subsidiary of Avia Solutions Group, 

Lithuania), on the contrary, is planning 

to begin with maintenance of the most 

popular types of single aisle aircraft, such 

as Boeing 737 and the family of Airbus 320, 

further considering the service of Bom‑ 

bardier CRJ, Embraer 145, and Boeing 777, 

and in the future, depending on the needs 

of the market, it may add wide‑body Boeing 

747 aircraft maintenance. OOO AAR Rus 

(joint project of the american AAR Corpo‑ 

ration and of the russian private investor 

Mukharbek Aushev) which has not long 

ago, on July, 20th, received the SEZ resident 

status by the decision of the Ministry of 

Economic Development expert council on 

port special economic zones, also intends to 

combine its logistics activities with foreign 

aircraft maintenance. MRO of avionics of 

domestic and foreign production is also 

planned to be carried out by InterAvionika 

(subsidiary of Aviapribor holding) that has 

also got the Ulyanovsk SEZ resident status 

on July, 20th. 

“The fact that several companies at a 

time are going to maintain and repair for‑ 



eign aircraft is one more proof of the fact 

that the russian maintenance market keeps 

on growing rapidly. Each year not even 

dozens, but sometime more than a hundred 

aircraft are being imported into Russia, 

and it provides enormous opportunities for 

MRO segment development, and russian 

and foreign investors understand it,” Head 

of the Aviaport agency analytical service 

Oleg Panteleyev says. 

Market follows aircraft 

When in 2010 and 2011 many foreign MRO 

providers were pointing out a decline in 

maintenance volume, as it was stated by 

western experts’ report in 2011, Russia 

was, on the contrary, demonstrating rise 

of the demand for it. Mr. Panteleyev notes 

that “MRO market follows the aircraft, 

and the tendency of increasing demand 

for maintenance of foreign aircraft will 

be only growing.” 

In March this year at a conference 

on MRO organized by ATO Events the 

General Director of GosNII GA (the state 

science and research institute of civil 

aviation) Vasily Shapkin noted in his 

report that “in 2011 russian air transport 

market has preserved a two — fold excess 

of growth rate compared to the global one 

(average growth rate of the air transport 

market up to 2030 is estimated at 7.5 % 

per year).” The volume of use of outdated 

domestic aircraft of previous generations 

was reduced to 6 %, but more and more 

“western type” aircraft are used, and 

their contribution to the russian air‑ 

lines` passenger traffic was 89 % in 2011 

(compared to 18 % in 2000), and freight 

turnover was 79 %. The share of modern 

Russian aircraft types in the volume 

of passenger traffic was the highest in 

2006 when it equaled 9 %, and now it 

dropped to 5 %.


Synergy 

557 passenger aircraft of foreign produc‑ 

tion and 40 new domestic aircraft were 

delivered to the russian fleet in 2006–2011. 

Delivery of cargo planes in this period were 

18 foreign and 9 new russian planes. 

The need for delivery of passenger craft 

to russian air companies (taking into ac‑ 

count rejecting those that have worked 

out their service life) is estimated at 

1030–1200 planes in the period to 2020, 

700–850 of them mainline and 300–350 re‑ 

gional. “The lack of russian production of 

a whole group of aircraft determines the 

substantial need of russian air transport 

for foreign planes,” as it was stated in 

the report. In 2020 the share of foreign 

planes in the russian commercial pas‑ 

senger fleet is estimated at 60 %, and in 

the cargo one — at 30 % (these assessments 

are optimistic, for they presuppose success 

of russian programs of modern planes 

production whose share of delivery to the 

passenger fleet must grow from 10 % now 

to future 40 %, and 50 % of cargo planes). 

Foreign experts from Aero Strategy have 

estimated the results of 2010 in the value 

of MRO of foreign aircraft of Russia, CIS, 

and Baltic states as 830 million dollars, 

while 61 % were made by russian air trans‑ 

porters. Now the experts state that the 

figure is near to a billion dollars, and that 

the MRO market will gain 4.4 % each year 

(the greatest MRO provider in Russia, 

MRO Engineering estimates this mar‑ 

ket at about 1.2 billion dollars). However, 

such a volume cannot be called large, for 

the world MRO market volume is about 

50 billion dollars. 

from the base to the hangar 

It should be noted that new foreign aircraft 

along with their advantages also set new 

challenges before the operators. While 

before all labor — intensive periodic main‑ 

tenance (except overhaul) of the soviet 

aircraft was made directly at the airport 

maintenance base, with the advent of 

foreign aircraft it became impossible. In 

the Engineering holding they clarify that 

“there are rigid restrictions on MRO that 

are stated by aviation authorities of the 

country where the planes are registered 

and the authorities that issue certificates 

for organizations engaged in MRO, and 

also some restrictions are imposed by 

the country where the company is situ‑ 

ated. It means that if an organization is 

going to be engaged in MRO, in order to 

get a certificate from European aviation 

authorities it must be audited on — site by 

representatives of the aviation authorities 

(in most cases not of one authority), and 

few companies will be able to fulfill all 

the requirements in order to deal properly 

with labor‑intensive forms of airplane 

and components maintenance,” said the 

Engineering holding management com‑ 

pany Director on quality Andrey Vlasov. 

And the requirements are rather rigid. 

One of the important ones is availability 

of hangars with the necessary climatic 

regime and the appropriate equipment. 

“Many russian air companies, even large 

ones, used to fulfill maintenance of aero‑ 

technics on open grounds. And there are 

no hangars at all in Russia that are de‑ 

manded for serving wide — body aircraft, 

the first will appear here, at the territory 

of the Ulyanovsk SEZ, when our project 

will be implemented,” says the Deputy 

Head of the Volga — Dnepr Technics — 

Ulyanovsk project Viktor Prokopchik. 

Another thing that many operators can‑ 

not provide is training of engineers and 

aviation technicians for service of foreign 

aircraft. Each of them, despite of the basic 

education in aircraft operation, must be 

trained in specialized centers for a specific 

aircraft type (type — training), and in 

order to obtain a certificate for relevant 

categories (A, B, and C) from 3 to 8 years 

of work (or internship) with this type of 

aircraft are needed. All this gets pretty 

expensive for air companies. For example, 

in the business plan of Volga — Dnepr 

Technics — Ulyanovsk 8.5 million dol‑ 

lars are intended for training specialists 

already having basic education. 

The experts think that as a result 

air companies find it more profitable to 

pass service in specialized MRO centers, 

even if they are situated abroad, than to 

build MRO bases even for simple types 

of maintenance (A — check, B — check). 

According to Oleg Panteleyev, with the ar‑ 

rival of foreign aircraft the western model 

of maintenance and repair of aircraft is 

gradually formed in Russia, when major 

carriers build MRO centers on their base in 

the form of subsidiaries, primarily to load 

these centers with servicing their own 

Aircraft delivery, units 

aircraft (for example, in 2010 AFI KLM 

Engineering & Maintenance provider ful‑ 

filled about 30 % of work on the airframe 

for third — party customers, Lufthansa 

Technik — 55 %, SIA Engineering Co — 

45 % — Open Region). At the same time 

minor air companies find it advantageous 

to be serviced in MRO centers. There are 

also companies (in Europe they are mainly 

lowcosters) that are fully concentrated on 

transporting, and leave even line main‑ 

tenance to out sorting. Oleg Panteleyev 

estimates that today in Russia there are 

only three technical centers certified for 

MRO of foreign built aircraft. They are 

Aeroflot ATC (aviation technical center, 

now working only with its own planes), 

Vnukovsky aircraft repair plant, and other 

companies’ MRO leader, Engineering hold‑ 

ing (including S7 Engineering with its 

subsidiaries in Minvody, Domodedovo ATB 

(aviation technical base), Sibirtehnik, and 

AviaAgregat). Some more companies have 

got their MRO bases for their own planes, 

the major and most successfully develop‑ 

ing of them is considered to be UTair. 

The expert believes that only large 

transporting companies can create their 

own MRO bases, those who have several 

dozens of aircraft. “In order to use a de‑ 

veloped technical base effectively and 

profitably it must be loaded with at least 

80 single aisle aircraft,” confirms the 

Chairman and Director of development 

of Avia Solutions Group (it includes FL 

Technics, the greatest MRO company in 

the Baltic countries). On the whole, the 

entrance of foreign built planes into the 

MRO market “is very costly, the barriers 

are quite high, and creating such a busi‑ 

ness will demand (including hangars) 

the investment of at least 30 million dol‑ 

lars,” financial Director of the Engineering 

holding management company Roman 

Fedorov considers. 

Year 

foreign aircraft 

Russian aircraft (re – export) 

Russian aircraft (new) 

State civil aviation research institute data 

Shares of supply of Russian and foreign aircraft in total sales volume by years. State civil aviation research institute 

data

36 

Synergy 

Language barrier 

The main problem that MRO providers 

encounter in Russia is our bureaucracy, 

as they estimate in FL Technics. “Our 

company has got all necessary EASA cer‑ 

tificates which we have received due to 

a very hard work. In order to fulfill MRO 

outside EC we must receive accreditation 

of the certificates. For example, in Israel, 

UAE, or Kazakhstan (we are accredited in 

15 states all in all) EASA certificates con‑ 

firmation is granted automatically. But in 

Russia with its lack of precise standards, 

demands, and procedures this process 

sometimes goes on very long and leads to 

additional barriers,” Gediminas Zhemyalis 

states. He states also some problems in 

lack of qualified personnel and in customs 

clearance of imported aircraft parts. Nev‑ 

ertheless, inconsistencies of russian and 

european aviation rules which cause the 

necessity of going through several audits 

of aviation authorities from different coun‑ 

tries are not considered to be a problem in 

Engineering holding, as well as the cus‑ 

toms. But russian experts confirm that one 

of the serious problems that will be still 

more acute in the future is personnel. 

“The problem of personnel is very seri‑ 

ous, despite the fact that people talk about it 

a lot less than about the shortage of pilots,” 

says Mr.Panteleyev. “The situation is even 

worse with aeromechanics, for the prestige 

of this profession has not been very high 

for a certain time, and the requirements 

for knowledge of English are not less than 

for pilots (we get all technical documenta‑ 

tion of foreign planes in English, and the 

manufacturers require that it should not be 

used in translation in order to avoid mis‑ 

understanding — Open Region). Strange 

as it may seem, the main difficulty is in 

culture: lack of knowledge of English. The 

only advice is: my friends, engineers and 

technicians, you should learn English!” 

Infomost Consulting company Director 

Boris Rybak emphasizes. 

Meanwhile the Director of the Uly‑ 

anovsk branch of JSC Special Economic 

Zones Denis Baryshnikov considers that the 

problem does not lie only in language, and 

far from it: the number of MRO specialists 

“is much less than the market demands. 

As I am well acquainted with business 

plans of SEZ residents, I can state that the 

existing residents will need 200 graduates 

of MRO specialties every year (taking into 

consideration rotation and departure from 

the region), and all in all Volga — Dnepr 

Technics — Ulyanovsk, FL Technics, and 

AAR will need a thousand and a half spe‑ 

cialists at least,” Mr. Baryshnikov notes. 

At the Engineering holding they also note 

that “while there is no such problem in 

Moscow and in Novosibirsk, in many other 

regions it can be very urgent.” 

In the Ulyanovsk government they 

admit that the development of the avia‑ 

tion cluster and of MRO in particular 

can lead to a substantial lack of technical 

aviation specialists. However, Deputy 

Prime Minister of the regional govern‑ 

ment Vildan Zinnurov assesses the need 

for specialists in maintenance and repair 

at the level of 85–90 graduates per year. 

So far, he says, the task was set for the 

Ulyanovsk technical University to study 

the issue of creating a faculty of aircraft 

operation, and already this summer spe‑ 

cific decisions will be taken. But Mr. Bary‑ 

shnikov is sure that the system of training 

specialists mainly with higher educa‑ 

tion “whose value is rather high, and the 

number is low” that exists in Russia does 

not fully correspond to the time demands, 

and that it is more important to organize 

secondary special educational institutions, 

which would be cheaper for the state and 

will make the term of training shorter. 

Meanwhile in Volga — Dnepr they note 

that they would prefer specialists with 

higher education for MRO. 

Mr. Baryshnikov believes that the ques‑ 

tion also is in one common problem, the 

Russian specifics, when educational in‑ 

stitutes belong either to the Ministry of 

Education (like Samara aerospace academy), 

or to a certain industry department (Rosa‑ 

viatsya). They both are training specialists, 

“but the Ministry of Education does not 

have enough competence, and the Ministry 

of transport is less engaged in the issues 

of education; as a result, the problem does 

not get enough attention.” Vice Rector 

of the Ulyanovsk high school of aviation 

UVAUGA GA Alexey Olenev considers that 

such specific specialists should be trained 

by professional educational institutions 

of Rosaviatsya department. In his words, 

there are plans to join some technical avia‑ 

tion schools to UVAUGA GA, but will they 

be implemented or not, and when it will be 

done, is yet unknown. At the same time, 

“if there is effective demand of the inter‑ 

ested companies, UVAUGA GA can organize 

education on new specialties,” Vice Rector 

explains. But the SEZ residents say they 

can pay for education for a specific plane 

type, while the basic technical aviation 

education must be a state concern (to be 

continued on page 44). 

Meanwhile, without waiting for the 

decision of the problems at the higher 

authority level, the Ulyanovsk regional 

government and FL Technics have already 

prepared an agreement on cooperation in 

training MRO specialists, which appears to 

be signed at the international air transport 

forum MATF 2012. In the future with the 

help of the region authorities FL Tech‑ 

nics intends to create its own training 

center on the SEZ territory. 


Competitors` community 

Despite the Russian specifics the MRO 

market will develop more in the western 

style, as it is considered by the experts and 

participants in the process. Thus, according 

to Director General of UTair air company 

Andrey Martirosov, both in Russia and in 

the west MRO will be “diverse and multi — 

systemic, some of them will be independ‑ 

ent, like AAR, and another will be parts of 

large integrators such as Lufthansa Tech‑ 

nik.” Mr. Baryshnikov, in his turn, believes 

that “the main russian trend is to form in‑ 

dependent Russian providers of MRO.” In 

the Engineering holding, vice versa, they 

are sure that MRO centers will be created 

as subsidiaries to major air transporters, 

and “there will be a lot of them. Besides, 

even minor transporters are ready to get 

engaged in this business, those having 

15 and less planes in their fleet, and one 

can expect that they will be condemned to 

heavy competition from the major provid‑ 

ers,” says the company treasurer Roman 

Fedorov. But Oleg Panteleyev believes that 

there will not be so many centers:”only 

a limited number of players will be able 

to afford severe forms, and there will be 

rather units than dozens, and alongwith 

there will be a competition with foreign 

stations, which will give an incentive to 

reduce the cost of maintenance and repair.” 

The expert also notes that “severe forms are 

profitable where they have got highly quali‑ 

fied and inexpensive personnel,” and thus 

the Ulyanovsk SEZ which offers additional 

preferences is a suitable place. Besides, it is 

well known that the pace of spare parts 

delivery for MRO centers (including pass‑ 

ing the customs) is of great importance, 

and SEZ has got the possibility to organize 

a warehouse for spare parts of several pro‑ 

viders and to carry out customs procedures 

already when a part is in demand. “We all 

have a mutual interest, and attraction of 

more than one MRO company to SEZ will 

better contribute to the formation of a large 

aviation hub in the region, such as those 

that exist in Florida,” as they emphasize in 

FL Technics. “The more players in this mar‑ 

ket, the better for the whole infrastructure,” 

agrees a representative of another competi‑ 

tor Mr. Fedorov. “In fact, today we see that 

at the PSEZ territory a pool of residents for 

MRO of aircraft is formed, and further it 

will attract companies here for service and 

repair of avionics, and some time later — of 

engines, for aircraft components logistics, 

and a training center (which is of interest 

for all the residents). All this subsequently 

will give a powerful synergistic effect, al‑ 

lowing businesses to save at the expense of 

cooperation, and the air companies — to get 

the widest range of services. A sort of avia‑ 

tion valley is formed, a real air cluster built 

on cooperation,” adds Mr. Baryshnikov. �


Experience 

aviation cluster has reached the 

level of reconsideration 

In three years the union has formed a complete set of 

competencies 

The Ulyanovsk region is one of the first regions of Russia where a few years ago the 

cluster model of the economy began to be used. The first cluster constructed according 

to the classical theory of Michael Porter is the aviation one. 

The missing element, supplementing aviacluster, is the international Air Transport forum (iATf) - the 

largest event in the industry, along with the international aviation and space salon in Zhukovsky 

Ulyanovsk‑Avia Research and educational 

industrial cluster consortium celebrates its 

third anniversary in August. During this 

time the number of the cluster participants 

has increased from 19 to 36 organizations in 

seven areas of specialization. More than 

100 enterprises of large, medium, and small 

businesses are involved in the activities 

of the aviation industry in the region. As 

noted in the Ulyanovsk Region Develop‑ 

ment Corporation (URDC), the formed 

aviacluster became the largest industrial 

agglomeration in the country. 

Arrival of new participants actually 

completed its formation as a single sys‑ 

tem of complementary elements needed, 

including science and development, staff 

training, production and commercializa‑ 

tion of projects. 

URDC believes that aviacluster has got all 

the prerequisites to go at the global level in 

the development of the cluster, the more that 

“aviacluster structure now presents the full 

range of competencies necessary for self‑ 

sufficient and effective action”: aircraft con‑ 

struction, production of composite materials 

for aircraft and avionics, maintenance and 

repair of aircraft, air cargo shipments (in‑ 

cluding international), training of aviation 

personnel, R & D, service unit for develop‑ 

ments commercialization, airport services, 

and infrastructure of the port zone. 

Most of the competencies are repre‑ 

sented in the region at all‑Russian level, 

a number of — at the level of the CIS or 

Eastern Europe countries, and some (in‑ 

ternational shipments, aircraft operation 

service unit) — on the global level. 

pavel Shalygin 

The cluster has formalized management 

structure in the form of a management 

company whose activities are coordinated 

by the regional government, being a kind 

of guarantee for investors. 

“Over the past three years we have re‑ 

considered and finally came to understand 

what the cluster should be like. Today in our 

structure there is a complete set of compo‑ 

nents of the world's leading clusters: pro‑ 

duction of aircraft (Joint‑Stock Company 

Aviastar‑SP), on‑board avionics (JSC UKBP 

(Ulyanovsk instrument design bureau), JSC 

Utes, infrastructure (2 airports), science 

(NIAT (National Institute of aviation technol‑ 

ogies) and VIAM (All‑Russia Institute of avia‑ 

tion materials), staff (UVAUGA (Ulyanovsk 

high school of civil aviation), Uluanovsk 

State University, Uluanovsk StateTechnical 

University), commercialization institutions 

(Center of cluster development, Technology 

transfer Center),” says Yuri Sarychev, Direc‑ 

tor of the regional state enterprise Ulyanovsk 

region aviation cluster development. 

The International Air Transport Forum 

(IATF) has become the missing element, 

supplementing the cluster. IATF is the largest 

event in the industry, along with the Interna‑ 

tional Aviation and Space Salon in Zhukovsky 

(first held in 2011, visited by 700 participants 

from 12 countries). The event serves as an ex‑ 

pert platform on major issues of development 

of air transport and civil aviation industry, 

aircraft and logistics, innovative develop‑ 

ment of the industry, and activities of the 

port special economic zones (PSEZ). 

This spring aviacluster was marked in 

the top twenty of the 94 applications of in‑ 

novative regional clusters in the competi‑ 

tion of the Russian Federation Ministry of 

Economic Development, so it will receive 

state aid under the federal targeted program. 

In the Ministry of economic development they 

stated that projects of the top ten clusters will 

be considered by federal development institu‑ 

tions (Vnesheconombank, Russian venture 

company, and others) on a priority basis.

38 

Experience 

Authorities and coordinating bodies 

make the emphasis in the development of 

aviacluster on its innovative component, 

believing that without it the industry's 

further development is impossible. One 

of such projects is the construction of Ae‑ 

rocomposite plant in Ulyanovsk, the most 

advanced enterprise in the Russian Federa‑ 

tion in development and manufacture of 

aircraft hull elements made of polymeric 

and composite materials. In addition, in 

October, 2011 Ulyanovsk Centre for Technol‑ 

ogy Transfer (Ulyanovsk nanocenter) be‑ 

gan its work; its total investment, including 

the means of the Fund of infrastructural 

and educational programs (JSC ROSNANO) 

will be 1.3 billion rubles. The center is in‑ 

tended to commercialize the technology, 

its core specializations are metallic and 

nonmetallic composite materials. 

General Director of the Center Andrew 

Redkin is sure that “aviation is one of the 

most promising applications of compo‑ 

sites,” and therefore sees his task in estab‑ 

lishment of joint centers of prototyping 

with the producers of aircraft components, 

and in launching production of new mate‑ 

rials. “The first such project — metalloma‑ 

trix nanocomposites — will be launched in 

early 2013.” 

As part of the investment programs of 

the cluster members it is also expected to 

launch six technology start‑ups associated 

with the production of aviation materials 

and components; 59 research and develop‑ 

ment works are planned and carried out in 

these areas. 

Ulyanovsk Branch of JSC Ilyushin, 

which is realizing modernization project 

of IL‑76 aircraft together with Aviastar‑SP 

and other cluster companies, intends to 

join the cluster (application to the super‑ 

visory board is already filed). “In future 

we will face the common task of devel‑ 

oping and launching into production a 

multi‑purpose transport aircraft (MTA) in 

the city of Ulyanovsk,” Sergei Kurochkin, 

the Head of the Ulyanovsk branch of “IL”, 

shared his plans. 

Cluster ideology, designed for synergy 

and interaction of aircraft orientation en‑ 

terprises, has demonstrated its necessity in 

the Ulyanovsk region. “Taking part in this 

project we were primarily focused on ex‑ 

panding mutually beneficial cooperation 

with enterprises and institutions in the 

cluster. Through this collaboration a new 

project was born, creation of an enterprise 

for production and repair of avionics in 

PSEZ,” said Alexey Baev, deputy General Di‑ 

rector of the Ulyanovsk instrument design 

bureau UKBP JSC (in July, having received 

approval of the advisory council of Port 

Special Economic Zones, InterAvionika 

became another PSEZ resident). 

According to the participants of the 

cluster, PSEZ along with the aviacluster 

core, Aviastar‑SP, will become its new key 

element, concentrated on developing high‑ 

tech enterprises in the aviation and logis‑ 

tics sectors. Today five companies are ready 

to start working in the zone, for which the 

federal government has secured the status 

of residents. 

Andrew Redkin believes that the clus‑ 

ter model is objectively composing in a 

number of world centers associated with 

the aircraft industry. And this is just an‑ 

other form of interaction. “It will change 

several times yet until it becomes a kind 

of a more formalized entity. What would it 

be is difficult to say, but the essence will 

remain the same and will increase with 

time — is a mutually beneficial associa‑ 

Port special economic zone becomes a new key element of the aviation cluster, where residents` 

cooperation due to their mutual interest will give a big synergistic effect 


tion,” stressed the Head of Technology 

Transfer Center. 

Participating enterprises also consider 

the presence of internal trade turnover and 

adding competencies for cooperation as 

an important criterion. They see the main 

advantage of the cluster in the presence of a 

good information site and of opportunities 

to interact with each other and with the 

government of the region. And, of course, 

in formulating a common strategy of pro‑ 

gressive development. 

However, among the difficulties faced by 

the participants is the lag in implementa‑ 

tion of cluster development. “Still not all 

of us go sequentially, lagging behind the 

theory. We still need some time to move 

from dialogue to implementing ideas and 

strategies,” says Mr. Baev. 

Cluster theory specialist, Ph. D. in 

Economics Ekaterina Pustynnikova 

believes that for the Ulyanovsk region 

cluster integration trends are very worth‑ 

while, as they contribute to economic 

growth; however she notes that “Uly‑ 

anovsk cluster now has more features 

of a consortium than of a cluster. The 

distinguishing feature of the cluster is a 

self‑organizing structure. Coordination 

by the government violates the principle 

of integrity, the main force of gravity in 

cluster is interest. The absence of a basis 

for self‑organization is also rooted in non‑ 

representation of corporate bonds in the 

cluster; for example, the Tupolev hold‑ 

ing which includes Aviastar‑SP must be 

presented in the system through Aviastar 

development programs. This will attract 

demand, potential investors,” sums up 

Mrs. Pustynnikova. 

However, while agreeing with the opin‑ 

ion of economists, the experts note that 

“it is just now that a real cluster interaction 

of residents is formed at PSEZ territory due 

to mutual interest, cooperation, and market 

conditions.” � 

S e Z J Sc



Federal line 

The climate is tailored to the 

standard 

The Ulyanovsk region has become one of the first Russia 

regions where they tested the Standard of RF subjects' 

executive bodies' activities for insurance of a favorable 

investment climate. 


The document was drafted by the federal 

Agency for strategic initiatives (ASI). In 

practice the Standard was first introduced, 

besides Ulyanovsk, in Kaluga, Lipetsk, 

Sverdlovsk regions, in Perm region, and in 

Tatarstan. Each region has signed an agree‑ 

ment, and a “road map” was worked out 

for it, that is a phased plan for implement‑ 

ing the Standard. The choice of the Uly‑ 

anovsk region as a pilot one was explained 

by the ASI Director of the New business line 

Artem Avetisyan: ”It is very important for 

us that in our region those business leaders 

were supported who want to develop social 

projects also. And today the Ulyanovsk 

region is one of the most dynamically de‑ 

veloping russian regions, both in terms 

of innovations and of modernization.” His 

words are supported by the fact that in 

June, this year Ulyanovsk was recognized 

as the leader in the rating of business doing 

conditions (Doing Business in Russia — 

2012), prepared by the World Bank and by 

the International Finance Corporation 

(IFC). The city has taken the first place, 

beating the seemingly more promoted 

cities with million population. 

a friendly interface 

The Standard includes 15 key items which 

are to be implemented at their territories 

by those Russia regions which stand for 

“warming” of the investment climate. 

One of the items was proposed by Uly‑ 

anovsk. It is an investment memorandum 

that establishes a number of tools for the 

development of the regional economy in‑ 

vestment component: administrative sup‑ 

port of investment projects, formation and 

development of perspective development 

zones and industrial parks, the cluster 

approach to the development of industry, 

public‑private partnership, and so on. 

In the framework of the Standard im‑ 

plementation, in addition to the memo‑ 

randum, the regions have committed to 

adopt a number of regulatory documents: 

investment strategy, annually updated 

plan to create the infrastructure objects 

necessary for investors, regional laws on 

protection of investors’ rights and mech‑ 

anisms to support investment activity.

40 

Federal line 

one of the Standard conditions is accessibility of officials for problem decision just-in-time 

Also among the mandatory items are the 

presence of direct communication chan‑ 

nels between investors and the region 

management (blogs, “hot line” on the site, 

accessible mobile phone numbers of high 

officials). “We want to create a “bridge” 

between business and government, a great 

“communicator “with a friendly interface,” 

noted Mr. Avetisyan. 

“The Standard is a set of the best prac‑ 

tices. It can be divided into three blocks. 

The first one is associated with the strategy 

of a RF subject in the field of ensuring a 

favorable investment climate. The second is 

meant to create conditions for business 

and investment. And the third one gives 

guarantees for the investors,” said the ASI 

Head of special projects department Vera 

Adayeva. 

Minister for strategic development 

and innovation of the Ulyanovsk region 

Alexander Smekalin proposed to adopt 

the Standard as a “zero” point: “It is some‑ 

thing that the regions should seek. They 

should assess whether they are fixed at 

zero or not.” Mr. Smekalin believes that 

the region “is steadily moving along the 

road map: we believe that we have fulfilled 

ten points of the Standard, and five more 

are in a serious work. Now we want to go 

further, go beyond the Standard, and to 

understand what else we need to do to 

ensure that investment climate becomes 

yet more favorable. If we stop here, we will 

fall behind.” 

Meanwhile the experience of the Uly‑ 

anovsk region shows that not everything 

depends on the region. “For example, a 

problematic issue in the Standard is train‑ 

ing the authorities personnel working 

with investors. In our opinion, it is nec‑ 

essary to develop a single integrated ap‑ 

proach, for the regions are unlikely to in‑ 

troduce separately a system of adequate 

training. We must determine what is nec‑ 

essary to do, how it should be done, and 

at which level. Everyone has got his own 

capabilities and his views. Therefore it will 

be more difficult to develop without a ma‑ 

jor regulatory central impact,” Alexander 

Smekalin defined. 

He is supported by the Ulyanovsk Gover‑ 

nor Sergey Morozov: “Today we are learning 

by trial and error, relying on each other’s 

experience, peeped or read somewhere. 

There are some individual examples when 

education is joined by respectable non‑ 

governmental organizations. Under the 

current presidential program of manage‑ 

ment personnel training it would be wor‑ 

thy to highlight a particular area, training 

of project teams, for employees of state 

authorities and development corporations. 

The anti‑corruption courses have been in‑ 

troduced, why not introduce the work 

with investors? Today it is equally im‑ 

portant. Training should be oriented on 

practice and based on the best interna‑ 

tional experience, with visits to other 

countries.” 



At the regional level it is also difficult 

to comply with the Standard requirement 

to include business representatives into 

the structure of the regional committee on 

energy tariffs setting (REC). “The point is 

quite controversial: the REC structure is 

regulated by federal laws, and we cannot 

step over them. But the problem is solved 

by creating public councils at the region‑ 

al Economy Ministry (for the same REC) 

through which consultations are held with 

business representatives and consumers. 

Yet business cannot have any direct impact 

on the work of the committee,” explained 

Mr. Smekalin. 

test purchase 

In order to test whether the Standard is 

really being implemented in the region, or 

“Potemkin villages” are being created, ASI 

together with Delovaya Rossia (Business 

Russia) has launched the “Test purchase” 

project. “We ourselves or through our fel‑ 

low entrepreneurs have tested the results of 

the Standard implementing in the regions. 

Expert groups from the local businessmen 

and experts were set up. The essence of 

their work is a systemic acceptance of the 

results of the executive authorities’ activity 

on each item of the road map,” explained 

Mrs. Adayeva. Judging by her words, in the 

Ulyanovsk region the expert group has esti‑ 

mated the results of Standard implementa‑ 

tion “rather highly”. Thus, the items “The 

adoption of the investment declaration” 

and “Annual message of the Head of the 

region on achievements and investment 

plans” were rated as “partial compliance 

of undertaken measures with the Standard 

requirements.” “The presence of a special‑ 

ized organization to attract investment” 

(Ulyanovsk Region Development Corpora‑ 

tion) was honored with assessing the “full 

compliance with the requirements”. And as 

for the items “Adoption of a law on investor 

protection” and “Direct communication 

channels” the expert group has specified 

that “the subject has stated that it has ful‑ 

ly implemented the requirements, but the 

examination is not completed yet.” 

The characteristic feature of the Stand‑ 

ard is that it is replenishable and updatable, 

its requirements will be periodically ad‑ 

justed, taking into account the experience 

of their application. One of the new items 

may be offered by Ulyanovsk. According to 

Alexander Smekalin, “everything possible 

has been done” in the region in order to 

reduce the time of passage and approval 

of building permits at least by half. “But, 

unfortunately, the experience shows that 

the greatest efficiency is yet achieved when 

the project is maintained in the “manual” 

mode. And it is like that in all advanced re‑ 

gions. The question how to build an efficient 

system is relevant yet,” says the Minister.



Federal line 

It is possible that the regional govern‑ 

ment will propose to introduce an elabo‑ 

rate scheme into the Standard, which will 

allow to solve problems without “manual 

tracking”. 

top five for investors 

According to the Head of the development 

Corporation of the Ulyanovsk region Dmitry 

Ryabov, there are no problems in the region 

today that impede the arrival of investors. 

“The Standard was developed for those 

entities where the investor wants to build 

something, and the region has got no infra‑ 

structure, industrial zones, development 

corporation or a similar structure, tax in‑ 

centives, cooperation with authorities. It 

aims to remove barriers and therefore is 

necessary for those who do not have any 

experience and, possibly, no willingness to 

work with the investor. And we have got 

no reason why an investor would not come 

to us. The commissioning of a new bridge 

across the Volga and the pipeline Staraya 

Binaradka — Dimitrovgrad — Ulyanovsk 

have removed the two major infrastruc‑ 

tural constraints in the region. Now any 

large enterprise that consumes a lot of 

resources can come to us: we will have 

enough natural gas for 20 years. Of course, 

there is no limit to perfection, and in the 

work with investors there are some points 

that need improvement. But these are 

working, routine situations, we would 

have to deal with them anyway,” clarified 

Mr. Ryabov. 

Among these “improvements” is the crea‑ 

tion of resource centers that help to solve 

the personnel problem. “New companies 

come to us, and we immediately discuss 

the issue of joint staff training. For exam‑ 

ple, with Gildemaster company not only 

the investment agreement was signed, it 

was decided to establish two resource cen‑ 

ters on the basis of higher and secondary 

educational institutions. Thus, for each 

major industrial facility we must first of all 

develop a system of advance training. It is 

a partnership where the client is the inves‑ 

tor, and the government should make great 

efforts to meet staff demand quickly,” said 

Sergey Morozov. 

Investors themselves are talking about 

one more aspect, not yet displayed in the 

Standard: it is important for them what is 

the quality of life around their businesses. 

“To the top five requirements of in‑ 

vestors to the territory you can add the 

availability of quality health care, kinder‑ 

gartens, schools and universities, com‑ 

fortable accommodation, located close to 

the company where employees could live, 

good roads,” Mars CIS (factory producing 

pets food) Director Sergey Nikolayev said. 

“A region that is capable of providing de‑ 

cent infrastructure and a comfortable life 

to employees of new businesses and their 

families will receive a competitive advan‑ 

tage and become a leader.” 

It is important for foreign investors 

who plan to move their families to Russia 

that in the region there were kindergar‑ 

tens, schools, clinics and hospitals, where 

nurses, teachers and doctors would speak 

English. “All these requirements are related 

to finances. For example, investors want a 

direct flight from Ulyanovsk to Europe — 

it is a subsidy from the regional budget 

of 30–50 million rubles a year. They want 

schools teaching in English — 30 million 

The investors want that there were good roads not only in the industrial zone but in the city itself 

rubles a year, and the issue is resolved. A 

good airport — again, it is necessary to 

allocate money. Thus, today it is a mat‑ 

ter of financial investment on the part 

of the budget. But the Ulyanovsk citizens 

also want to fly to Europe and to teach 

their children in good schools. It is great 

that investors are catalysts in these mat‑ 

ters. Maybe in the short term the authori‑ 

ties would not have reached these matters. 

And it’s great that the governor and the 

government respond to these requests 

with a great understanding and accele‑ 

rate the solution of many problems,” noted 

Dmitry Ryabov. 

Meanwhile the Chairman of the National 

Agency for Direct Investment Igor Vdovin 

believes that government support for “ide‑ 

ology” of attracting investors to the re‑ 

gion is equally important. “For investors 

Russia is one vast territory, which can be 

divided into separate entities only upon 

close acquaintance. When there is no sin‑ 

gle government investment policy, there 

appears a strange kind of competition: the 

regions do not join forces but try to run 

faster to investors. The federal center must 

have a clear strategy for the integrated 

development of the territories. Then it will 

be clear where is the place for the federal 

effort, and where is the regional work. In 

this case they will need to create favorable 

local conditions, and not to carry out the 

work instead of everyone. It will be enough 

to create a small enough but professional 

structure at the federal level that would 

be responsible for attracting investment. 

A target team is needed that would deal 

with the federal marketing, outline the 

purpose, and then watch where to place 

this or that company, on the basis of a 

friendly competition between the regions,” 

sums up Mr. Vdovin. �

42 

Results 

The region collects a “harvest” 

The basis laid for investment activity has brought 

fruit in 7 years 

lUBov CHilikovA 

As of July 1, 2012 the total investment 

portfolio in the Ulyanovsk region was 

estimated at 173 billion rubles. The re‑ 

gional registry at that time consisted of 

102 investment projects, their implemen‑ 

tation will allow to arrange 39.7 thousand 

new jobs. The total expected tax reve‑ 

nues account for almost 11 billion rubles 

a year. 37 projects have been completed, 

and in eight more further expansion and 

modernization of production is planned, 

36 are in an active phase, 21 more are 

planned for implementation, according 

to the regional government Department 

of modernization and development of 

regional economy. 

These indicators are the result of the fact 

that in 2005 the Ulyanovsk Region has made 

a bet on attracting investment, says Director 

General of Ulyanovsk Region Development 

Corporation (URDC, works with investment) 

Dmitry Ryabov. Then, he said, the regional 

government has developed a unique package 

of tax breaks and subsidies to investors for 

a period of eight years (today a resolution is 

being prepared to increase the period of sup‑ 

port up to ten years), the principle of “single 

window”, support for investment projects 

at all stages, etc. As a result of seven years 

the amount of investment has increased 

six times, from 11.4 billion rubles in 2004 to 

61.7 billion in 2011. 

According to the URDC information, 

in 2013 a number of new enterprises are 


planned to be opened in the region. They 

are Ulyanovsk Aerocomposite plant produc‑ 

ing “black wings” for the MS‑21 aircraft, 

Mordovcement, the largest enterprise in 

the Sengiley district, and Narodny plastic. 

Danish Hempel Group, the world leader in 

the manufacture and sale of paint coatings, 

will open its plant. The world’s largest 

manufacturer of machine tools, german 

company Gildemeister AG, will build its 

plant. In early 2013 Hilton Garden Inn 

plans to open a hotel. At the end of the year 

a plant for car safety systems production 

Takata‑Petri Rus will start working in 

the industrial zone Zavolzhye. And at the 

end of 2013 a MRO center of the Volga‑Dnepr 

Technics Ulyanovsk is to start work in the 

port special economic zone. 

ulyanovsk region development corporation


Results 

“Five — seven companies a year — this is 

really a lot, although only the greenfield 

projects are named here. 2013 along with 

2012 will be the most “fruitful”,” stressed 

Mr. Ryabov. According to him, in 2012 the 

number of companies with whom negotia‑ 

tions are under way has increased dramati‑ 

cally, “each week there are two or three vis‑ 

its of investor companies. It is a result of 

our work, and, of course, the impact of 

competition and ratings. Rankings are of 

great importance for recognition of the re‑ 

gion. That very Doing Business has opened 

a completely different type of investors 

for us, which we could not find by address 

treatment, or with other traditionally used 

work tools,” adds Director General. He also 

notes that all the projects that have been 

frozen because of the crisis have “thawed” 

long ago, and are either completed or un‑ 

derway, and “all that was initiated prior 

to 2008 is fully completed.” Mars corpora‑ 

tion has finished constructing the second 

factory for the production of pet food and 

has opened a chocolate factory, a German 

company Quarzwerke has completed a 

project to create a mining and processing 

plant. Eunice company which also froze its 

project in Sengileyevsky district is now 

coming onto the construction site, and we 

can say that the region will get one more 

plant in the glass cluster. 

Dmitry Ryabov explained that in the 

Ulyanovsk region not just new enterprises 

are being created, but the production of an‑ 

other type — modern, high‑tech, with high 

culture of production activities. “This is 

exactly what is called a new economy or 

new industrialization,” he says.”The ma‑ 

jor part is the economy of tomorrow, the 

projects that are not susceptible to crises. 

Takata‑Petri, SABMiller, and Mars — all of 

them are world leaders. It is clear that by 

the revenue they will not be the locomo‑ 

tives of the regional economy, but they 

will certainly give the economy more sta‑ 

bility in future. In URDC they note that 

the GRP is not large yet (about 200 billion 

rubles), but when the enterprises start 

working in the next three years “it will 

grow seriously”; besides, “in the future fis‑ 

cal injections will have a beneficial effect 

on the parameters of the regional budget.” 

For example, a brewery SABMiller which 

has expired tax breaks now pays one billion 

rubles excise annually; two Mars factories 

will soon begin to pay about 300 million 

rubles of income tax. 

They said in the corporation that some 

of the niches in the regional economy have 

not yet attracted attention of potential in‑ 

vestors. For example, business class hous‑ 

ing is not built in Ulyanovsk, there are 

no global tourism projects, although the 

nature and rich history of the region al‑ 

low to do it. 

Dmitry Ryabov considers budget con‑ 

straints to be a big problem in investing 

activities: active efforts to attract invest‑ 

ment must be financed. In his opinion, 

the decision on the state promotion of the 

regions that are actively attracting inves‑ 

tors and thus swell the federal treasury is 

quite fair. Last year the Ulyanovsk region 

has got the first award in the amount of 

200 million rubles for good investment 

activity. 

Also this year in the Ministry of Eco‑ 

nomic Development competition the 

project of a nuclear cluster, proposed by 

Ulyanovsk, has won. Under the terms of 

financing the winner will receive 2.5 bil‑ 

lion rubles for five years. These funds will 

be allocated in construction of industrial 

buildings for new companies, first of all 

for innovative ones. 

“Such subsidies are essential for us, 

without them we simply cannot grow as 

fast as our set of investors allows. Basically 

we’re in a good dialogue with the federal 

government, they listen to us,” concluded 

the Head of the development corporation 

of the region. 

In 2010 the region has become the Volga 

district leader in terms of growth of foreign 

direct investment, and last year it became 

the district leader on the index of physi‑ 

cal volume of capital investments. 

This year the region ranked first in the 

rating of business environment in Russia 

(Doing Business in Russia‑2012) prepared 

by the World Bank and the International 

Finance Corporation (IFC). The study ana‑ 

lyzes the regulation norms, as well as those 

providing incentives for business activity 

and those that prevent it. At the subnational 

level regulation norms are being considered 

in Russia relating to the four stages of the 

life of a business: business registration, 

obtaining a building permit, connection 

to the electricity system, and registration 

of property. Ministry of Economic Devel‑ 

opment has taken30 cities as the basis for 

ranking. The criteria for their selection in‑ 

clude the degree of urbanization, quantity 

of population, economic activity, political 

and geographical diversity, and other fac‑ 

tors. Thus, for ease of registration of enter‑ 

prises Ulyanovsk took the 3rd place, only St. 

Petersburg and Volgograd were ahead. For 

availability of receiving a building permit — 

the 4th place, and the 5th place for ease of 

connection to the electricity supply system. 

For ease of registering property Ulyanovsk 

has fixed at the 8th position. As a result the 

city ranked first in the final table. 

“The ideology of business support has 

proved its worthiness. There are three 

major components in it: taking into ac‑ 

count the views of business in legislative 

activity, the state provision where it is most 

useful both for business and the region, and 

most important are the tax cuts,” says the 

Governor of the region Sergey Morozov. 

Mr. Ryabov sees the reasons for the 

success of investment in the region in 

systematic work, both in targeted work 

with investors and in presentations and 

negotiations in the framework of exhibi‑ 

tion activities, and in continuous monitor‑ 

ing and analysis of investment activity of 

companies. 

“We have been working for these results 

for the long seven years, gaining the best 

practice which is used in Europe,” empha‑ 

sizes the Governor. 

“A positive investment image of the 

region had been created for many years by 

long routine work, and now the Ulyanovsk 

region has become recognizable, the image 

has started to work for us,” adds Dmitry 

Ryabov. � 

inveStment in fixed aSSetS (biLLion rubLeS)

44 

vADiM PilUkov 

Staff 

head hunting 

The Ulyanovsk region was among the first to get seriously concerned with the 

problem of staff shortages in the aviation industry, and together with the enterprises 

of aviation cluster it is being creating in fact a new system of staff formation. 

the regions have a headache 

While in the 90th and at the beginning 

of the 2000th years russian regions were 

competing with each other in attracting 

big investments to their territories, the 

nearest years of 2010–2020 are most likely 

to be marked by intense competition for 

labor resources, according to the regional 

policy Institute (Moscow)projection. 

Rector of the Ulyanovsk state technical 

University Alexander Gorbokonenko states 

that the graduates of the Ulyanovsk insti‑ 

tutes are in great demand, and that “head 

hunting” is in full swing. The region au‑ 

thorities are perplexed by the fact of brain 

drain. “The need for engineering technical 

workers is twice as big as the actual output 

of educational institutions,” the rector states 

helplessly. According to him, HR services of 

several science and investigation institutes 

and of industrial enterprises “are constantly 

present in the University in order to detect 

talented students and to oversee them from 

the beginning of their studies. They acquaint 

them with their enterprises, try to attract 

them with high starting salaries and with 

the possibility to solve the housing issue. Each 

of them is ready to hire almost all graduates of 

the radio engineering, machine engineering, 

and energy engineering faculties.” 

Graduates are imbalanced 

Staff shortage is complicated by the im‑ 

balance of the market demand and of the 

educational level and specifics of the gradu‑ 

ates. According to the Ministry of education 

data, where there is one graduate with 

the primary vocational education, there 

are 2.5 specialists with the secondary and 

5 with the higher education. The depart‑ 

ment sets a different task: about 24 % of 

economy workers must have higher profes‑ 

sional, 27.5 % — secondary professional, and 

14.5 % — primary professional education. 


Moreover, the russian labor market, 

oversaturated with lawyers and econo‑ 

mists, is suffering from a catastrophic 

shortage of engineering specialists whose 

prestige has fallen dramatically in recent 

years. When in 1991 graduates of the tech‑ 

nical engineering institutes formed 36.4 % 

of the total number, and of the economical 

ones — 13.8 %, by 2010 technical graduates 

formed only 21.8 %, and vice versa, econo‑ 

mists — already 31.5 %. 

Meanwhile, the investigation carried 

out by the regional government together 

with the AviaPort agency specialists in 

winter, 2012 showed that the Ulyanovsk 

aviation enterprises (including residents 

of the Russia only special economic zone 

(SEZ) of airport type, situated in our re‑ 

gion) have declared that they were go‑ 

ing to attract 125 specialists with higher 

education in aircraft and helicopter con‑ 

structing and 62 specialists in machine 

engineering technology already in 2012. 

vladimir Lamzin


Staff 

There is also a comparable demand for 

secondary professional graduates. And 

such a level of demand will stay for the 

nearest years, only present day SEZ resi‑ 

dents will have summary need for about 

1400 specialists by 2020, as they state in 

the regional government. At the same 

time CJSC Aviastar SP intends to hire about 

2,500 workers and engineers in 2013–2014. 

The businesses and the authorities denote 

the complexity of planning the personnel 

policy in aviation industry. “The state must 

maintain long term programs of aircraft 

production, which could allow industries 

to calculate their future staff policy and 

make orders for specialists,” believes the 

Chairman of the directors’ board of PIK 

Diamant — Invest Evgeny Nikiforov. He is 

supported by the regional Labor Depart‑ 

ment Director Oleg Zalaldinov who states 

that only 22 % of regional enterprises are 

planning their staff policy for more than 

three years ahead. 

Institute goes to the production 

Vice Premier of the Ulyanovsk govern‑ 

ment Vildan Zinnurov is confident that the 

development of aviation industry which 

has been stated to be of priority for the re‑ 

gion is impossible with the staff structure 

we are having today. He notes that “though 

educational policy on the whole is run by 

the federal authority”, the regional govern‑ 

ment tries to seek instruments to remedy 

the situation by improving the learning en‑ 

vironment and the life level of students and 

specialists working in aviation industry, 

and to motivate young people. In 2008 the 

regional government together with CJSC 

Aviastar — SP and OAO OAK (JSC United 

Aircraft Corporation) developed a complex 

program of attracting, training, and giving 

foothold for personnel at the Ulyanovsk 

region aircraft construction enterprises. 

The aircraft construction oriented resource 

center that was established then has helped 

to attract about two thousand workers and 

specialists for Aviastar. And in 2009 the 

regional authorities came to a new level 

of staff training: within the framework 

of the Consortium of science, education, 

and production cluster Ulyanovsk — Avia 

all the potential of aviation enterprises 

and of educational institutes and innova‑ 

tive structures situated in the region was 

united, and it allowed to determine the 

need for specialists and to form the system 

of staff training together. 

“We have come to the conclusion that 

the employers must not remain aloof from 

the problems of personnel training, they 

must interfere with the learning process 

and induce institutes to change their cur‑ 

riculum in accordance with the specific 

needs of aviation industry,” President of the 

Ulyanovsk state University Yuri Polyanskov 


notes. This year the University has obtained 

accreditation for the direction of aircraft 

construction (with 17 budgetary financed 

places for the first year). And the University 

displays a new level of aviation education: 

the graduates must possess an excellent 

digital design, for all the new projects in 

the United Aircraft Corporation are being 

performed only paperless. 

With the help of the regional govern‑ 

ment the Consortium intends to solve one 

more problem: to make institute curricu‑ 

lum as close as possible to the conditions 

of real production. Thus, for instance, the 

system of education at the Ulyanovsk high 

school of civil aviation UVAUGA GA is being 

changed. “Transfer of aviation companies 

to foreign crafts demands that the whole 

system of aviation specialists training in 

aviation schools is changed and reequipped, 

but the structure came out to be quite clum‑ 

sy,” as it was stated by the President of the 

Civil aviation partner Fund Oleg Smirnov. 

“As a result the shortage of flying staff be‑ 

gan to threat seriously the development of 

The number of pilots, men 

the industry. That is why the RF Ministry 

of transport is forced to take urgent action, 

like the order № 139, that allows the flight 

crew during day flights to be manned with 

two pilots instead of three.” 

But the UVAUGA GA rector Sergey Kras‑ 

nov notes that the school has got good 

opportunities for modernization of its ma‑ 

terial and technical base. And the deliv‑ 

ery of new equipment is being conducted 

both by means of budgetary financing and 

within the private — state partnership of 

UVAUGA GA with Oxford Aviation Acad‑ 

emy (OAA). 9 Diamond DA 40NG planes, 

a Czech L‑410, two helicopters Eurocop‑ 

ter AS‑350B2 were bought for UVAUGA 

GA in 2011, and also complex simulator 

systems Tu‑204 and A320 were supplied 

and are being assembled now; it is planned 

that they will be put into operation in Au‑ 

gust. Installation of the russian SSJ‑100 is 

planned for the near future. Thanks to 

cooperation with OAA by September, 

this year a modern full flight simulator 

Boeing‑737 must appear in UVAUGA GA. 

The required rate of replenishment of the flight crews of airlines. State civil aviation research institute data 

Year 

men/year 

Vacancies for pilots' admittance by alternative channels 

Evaluation of pilots' graduation from Rf Transport Ministry schools 

State civil aviation research institute data

46 

Staff 

OAA and UVAUGA intend to establish a 

joint venture for organization of pilots’ 

initial flight training, and also of additional 

training for maintenance of different types 

of foreign aircraft, for cabin crew training, 

and for studying the aviation English. 

“After finalizing the new simulators the 

pilot will be able to work as a line pilot on 

foreign and latest russian planes without 

additional training,” Sergey Krasnov ex‑ 

plained. 

Production comes nearer 

to the institute 

Aviation company Volga — Dnepr, one of 

the key enterprises of the aviation cluster, 

is in steady need for specialists in main‑ 

tenance of aircraft and engines and in 

avionics, about 80–85 men are needed, but 

yet no school in the region is training such 

specialists. Basing on the predictions given 

that fewer resources will be required from 

the enterprises to consolidate the region’s 

professionals who were born and trained in 

local schools, the airlines consider it advis‑ 

able to start preparing at least three groups 

on the basis of Ulyanovsk schools — both 

under contracts with the potential custom‑ 

ers’ companies, and on the basis of budget‑ 

ary financing of students’ education. 

In the latest years many aircraft en‑ 

terprises have created their own system 

of staff training. According to the Deputy 

General Director for external relations and 

stuff of OAO UKPB (Ulyanovsk instrument 

design bureau, a part of the OAO Concern 

Aviapribirostroenye (Avionics)), the com‑ 

pany desperately needs programmers and 

developer engineers. “We have to train spe‑ 

cialists for our bureau ourselves; the main 

source of staff completion is the branch of 

the University department of aircraft in‑ 

struments and computing measuring 

systems which is working in the bureau. 

“Beginning with the 4th year, the students 

become our full — adapted specialists. They 

protect their diploma projects here on the 

topical themes of the enterprise. Many of 

them stay, but yet we have to look for some 

specialized experts among the graduates 

of Kazan technical University named after 

Tupolev, of Samara aerospace University, 

and of Moscow aviation institute.” 

New motivation 

What is very profitable for foreign investors 

may in the long run turn out to be bad for 

the structure of the region human resour‑ 

ces. According to the data of the industry 

department of the Ministry of industry and 



transport, the regional average salary of 

aviation engineers is about 15,000 rubles, 

which corresponds to the average in the 

region (in 2011 it was 15.200 rubles). “The 

region authorities understand that the 

figure is unreasonably low and therefore 

try to support new specialists with regional 

budget means,” the department Director 

Marina Gluhova notes. She says that in 

June the regional government approved a 

resolution on granting a one‑time incen‑ 

tive payment to certain categories of new 

specialists at the territory of the Ulyanovsk 

region. Now the graduates of institutes 

and colleges (up to 30 years old) who have 

worked for three years (starting from Janu‑ 

ary 1st, 2011) in the development, produc‑ 

tion, repair, and testing of aircraft equip‑ 

ment (at Aviastar — SP, at UKPB, and at 

Utes) will be given a lump sum payment 

of 80,000 rubles. The document states the 

list of 13 most deficient specialties whose 

workers may apply for monetary help. 

Meanwhile the personnel Director of 

Aviastar Vadim Oveychuk is sure that, 

like in the soviet times, one of the most 

efficient methods of retaining special‑ 

ists is to solve the housing issue. As an 

example of a real measure he gives the 

pilot project involving Aviastar, Sberbank, 

the developer company Zapad — 2, and the 

regional government. Young specialists 

of Aviastar get the possibility to purchase 

housing on favorable terms at below market 

price (for this purpose the developer gets 

tax preferences from the government), and 

Sberbank, having received government 

guarantee, provides a minimum rate on 

the loan (not above 10 %). Aviastar itself 

helps with the starting payment by giv‑ 

ing the best workers 150,000 rubles. “In 

the nearest years the program must solve 

the housing problems of several thousand 

plant workers, though we estimate the total 

need to be no less than 5.5 thousand flats 

up to 2020,” Mr. Oveychuk said. 

“The necessity to improve the situation 

as soon as possible is evident, it must be 

done locally, by opening new specializa‑ 

tions and by revising the curriculum, and 

so on, and also in terms of raising the pres‑ 

tige of working in aviation, that will allow 

the industry to attract the most powerful 

specialists,” Vildan Zinnurov states. “We 

are conducting work on forming human 

resources in various directions. At school 

we instill an interest in aviation, involv‑ 

ing children in clubs for scientific and 

technical creative work and in aviation 

sport clubs, senior classes hold lessons in 

career counseling. We support the best 

students with the Governor scholarships 

and help companies to consolidate the 

personnel. This is a complex and a pains‑ 

taking work, requiring much effort, but it 

will pay off.” �

“Take me to the army” 

In Ulyanovsk they want to try a new kind of career 

guidance through the youth draft to the RF army, 

or more precisely, to its air force. 

Sergey UrAlSky 

The Ulyanovsk region government has as‑ 

signed the brand of aviation capital of Rus‑ 

sia to it, and it has already become tacitly 

accepted and commonplace in the higher 

power corridors. And now it is in danger 

of facing a serious shortage of aviation 

technology specialists in the nearest years, 

though it has still quite a good potential 

workforce of aviation engineers and techni‑ 

cians, whose base was formed in the soviet 

years. The chance of future deficiency is re‑ 

lated not only to the large order for the new 

modification of IL‑76 produced by Aviastar, 

and not only to the increase in air travel 

of the two regional center airports. Only 

the residents of the Ulyanovsk special eco‑ 

nomic zone of the port type (PSEZ) who in‑ 

tend to create aircraft maintenance and 

repair (MRO) centers will require from 1.5 to 

2 thousand of skilled aviation technicians 

and engineers (see page see pp 34, 44). 

orientation on the terrain 

The regional government, being aware of 

the possible future situation with aviation 

personnel shortage, is already providing 

for a system of regional education for the 

required specialties. However, even if new 

necessary faculties appear at regional uni‑ 

versities and colleges they still will need 

to recruit students who wish to connect 

their life to aviation. Meanwhile, as has 

often been pointed out by experts, aviation 

profession that used to be prestigious (in 

the 70th the contest to the Riga Institute 

of Civil Aviation reached up to 10 people 

per site), in the 90th has lost its popula‑ 

rity because of low salaries in civil aviation 

and in aviation industry, and of the lack of 

work. Personnel failure has formed, which 

will only increase when specialists of the 

soviet period come to the age limit. 

In order to upgrade the prestige of avia‑ 

tion profession and to attract young peo‑ 

ple into it the officials are preparing pro‑ 


grams of career guidance, and the region 

government began financial support of the 

regional federation of aviation sport. The 

regional target program “Ulyanovsk is an 

aviation capital” has included (with appro‑ 

priate funding) the events for development 

of the public movement “League of young 

aviators” and the project for organizing 

aviation focused classes at school. However, 

at the official website of the Ulyanovsk re‑ 

gional government`s department of employ‑ 

ment there is still no word about professions 

of aviation technician, engineer, or at least, 

of aircraft manufacturer. There are none of 

them even in the labor market projections. 

Judging by the authorities’ reaction, there is 

yet no shortage of such specialists. “There is 

just no need for these specialties. We don`t 

get any signals about it. The fact is that we 

are working with the fact of employers’ ap‑ 

plications, and many of them do not look 

ahead for more than a year,” said the acting 

Department Director Anatoly Poluektov.

48 


The air company considers that Air force can give good training for future MRo specialists 

However, he acknowledges that the fore‑ 

casts “have flaws”, and notes that different 

departments are involved in career coun‑ 

seling, but their activities are not coordinat‑ 

ed by anyone. Deputy Prime Minister Vildan 

Zinnurov agrees with him: “There is yet no 

unified network of vocational guidance, no 

coordinating body, and no common agreed 

policy in this matter.” 

We will help the army, and the 

army will help us 

Meanwhile the Director of the Ulyanovsk 

branch of OJSC SEZ Denis Baryshnikov has 

got quite an unusual idea of career coun‑ 

seling. Noting that any professional train‑ 

ing is affected by the russian specifics of 

army draft, and at least one missing year 

of service in the army often changes young 

people’s plans, he believes that specificity 

can be turned to the region benefit, for its 

aviation cluster, for the Defense Ministry, 

for Air Force, and the sphere of patriotic 

education. “The ideal variant is to organize 

a special draft for the Ulyanovsk region, so 

that everyone with good health and who 

has a desire could be sent for service to 

Air Force. Best of all to military transport 

aviation (MTA), to aviation regiments 

armed with IL‑76 and An‑124 (Ruslan). The 

recruits would pass education and take 

part in aircraft maintenance, but even if 

they are not admitted for maintenance, 

they would nevertheless be imbued with 

the spirit of aviation after working in 

supporting aircraft and near them, and 

they are most likely not to want to part 

with aviation. And then, after demobili‑ 

zation, young people would be invited for 

but Air forces note that private draftees 

will be used only for supporting works 

vladimir kovtun 

re‑training in Ulyanovsk special training 

centers for MRO specialties, and further 

be offered work in this specialty. If the 

Defense Ministry will not be able to or‑ 

ganize a special draft for all the recruits, 

it still could be organized for the graduates 

of higher and secondary schools of avia‑ 

tion specialty. They would have already 

got basic education, and Mr. Baryshnikov 

believes that they could become valuable 

specialists in military transport aviation 

units. “And then the regional and local 

authorities could undertake a serious and 

real career guidance at school, explaining 

to parents and young people that there is 

no need to be afraid of the army, and that 

they will be sent to the Air Force, where 

they will serve the Ruslan or IL‑76 and get 

the skills and experience, and after the 

army service they will get a quick retrain‑ 

ing at an aviation technical college or a 

http://aviapanorama.ru 


training center where they will learn to 

work with civil aircraft, after which they 

will become certified specialists in MRO 

with guaranteed job (and a decent sal‑ 

ary) in companies engaged in MRO at the 

Ulyanovsk special economic zone (PSEZ) 

territory,” said Mr. Baryshnikov. Accord‑ 

ing to him, such a system of vocational 

guidance would interest all its parties 

and participants. Ministry of defense 

would get a more efficient and virtually 

guaranteed “normal sane stream of con‑ 

scripts” who would deliberately go to the 

troops. Volga‑Dnepr Technics — Ulyanovsk 

(a resident of PSEZ, which implements 

the project on MRO of widebody Boeing 

747 and An‑124–100) would receive almost 

ready professionals who have already got 

basic education and skills, and the au‑ 

thorities of the region would get patriotic 

education and staff deficit reduction in 

demanded occupations. This chain could 

easily integrate the Ulyanovsk DOSAAF 

flying club, which once had done military 

training of future soldiers for the air force 

and airborne assault troops. “Only this 

matter must be dealt with, and right now. 

And it requires no sectoral approach to 

career counseling, when departments of 

education, transport, industry, and sports 

are cooked each in their own juice — we 

need crossfunctional programs with a 

single governing body,” emphasizes the 

Director of OJSC SEZ. 

Representatives of the Volga‑Dnepr air‑ 

line in their turn offer a somewhat differ‑ 

ent version which, in their view, would in‑ 

terest both military and civil aviators. 

Advisor to the company’s organizational 

and personnel security Vladimir Yakovlev 

said that, as a rule, Volga‑Dnepr is recruit‑ 

ing MRO specialists only with higher edu‑ 

cation in the aviation segment. Then these 

professionals are trained at a certified train‑



ing center, and after three years of study 

and training they receive a certificate of a 

MRO specialist of international standard. 

“And the best option would be if our spe‑ 

cialists get a three years delay for the time 

of training in this center, and after three 

years a ready certified specialist is drafted 

to MTA for the same types of aircraft which 

he had studied, IL‑76 or An‑124. Such a 

specialist with a higher basic education, 

high‑quality supplementary education, 

and with extensive experience would be 

snapped up in the MTA, I am sure, “said 

the advisor. 

Pro and contra 

Deputy Prime Minister of the regional 

government Vildan Zinnurov considers the 

“conscription” idea “very interesting” and 

“worthwhile.” “If the whole system is well 

considered, explaining a young man still 

at school that he will go to study first and 

then will go to the army in his specialty, 

then he will be retrained, and as a result 

he’ll become a good specialist with a salary 

of 50–80 thousand rubles, then the youth 

will not run from the army, but rather seek 

to go there, the young people will find an 

aim, real and worthy,” said the Minister. 

However, he believes that to realize 

the idea, “even at least in part, will be very 

difficult.” For example, at the group of in‑ 

formation services (GIS) of the Air Force OR 

they explained that if the recruits get into 

the air force right after school “they will 

serve as privates and clearly will not be 

admitted for maintenance of aircraft. All 

of them will be in the support staff di‑ 

rectly not connected with aviation, they 

will serve in maintenance units as driv‑ 

ers and so forth,” said the Head of the Air 

Force GMO Vladimir Drik, noting that “the 

aircraft is a very complicated machine 

and a high responsibility.” However, he 


DoSAAf flying club that used to prepare staff for the Russian army could once again become 

an important link in the proposed professional guidance system 

did not give any answer to the questions 

of whether it is possible to organize a spe‑ 

cial draft, can the graduates of special‑ 

ized secondary or higher schools with a 

profile aviation education be admitted 

to the maintenance of aircraft, or how 

much could MTA be interested in admission 

of draftees with higher education, work 

experience on aircraft equipment, and a 

certificate in MRO. 

At the regional recruiting office they 

explained that in the Army they are trying 

to define the graduates of higher or secon‑ 

dary education with technical specialties 

according to their professional profile, first 

sending them to educating course, but they 

found it difficult to answer whether it is 

possible with such complicated aviation 

professions. At the same time they noted 

that if the proposed system of a special 

draft would be implemented in one way or 

another, they would be “only for it.” 


Former Commissar of the Ulyanovsk 

region, the Director of the regional auto‑ 

nomous government institution “Center 

for patriotic education” Vladimir Vitry‑ 

anyuk believes that the idea is quite vi‑ 

able, “although it is of course in the com‑ 

petence of the General Staff. As a rule, 

we have always had target draft sets. 

For example, a region needs some mili‑ 

tary specialties — then it appeals to the 

General Staff, and we receive Staff orders 

and direct recruits along these lines. 

So, there has always been this topic,” 

says the ex‑Commissar. He assesses the 

proposed idea of a special draft as “posi‑ 

tive” and supports it, calling it “purely 

national approach. Why should we lose 

the specialists that are already there. Let 

them do some work in the army in their 

field. It’s better than when you get people 

who have nothing to do with aviation,” 

says Mr. Vitryanyuk. In his opinion, 

it is very important when, instead of 

those who simply seek to serve out their 

term of service as quickly as possible, 

a man fascinated by aviation comes to 

serve to the aviation regiment, the one 

who wishes to enhance his knowledge 

and experience. He also believes that the 

aviation regiments of MTA should be in‑ 

terested in getting recruits who already 

have education and relevant certificates 

for maintenance and repair. 

Mr. Baryshnikov said that there is a 

problem, and it may be solved, and we just 

need to act, to try, to look for alternatives. 

“If we have a dual‑purpose aircraft (mili‑ 

tary and civil, AN‑124 and IL‑76), then why 

not take the opportunity to have a dual 

specialist? Still, it’s not just a matter of 

career guidance, it is a big saving of public 

funds, in which all parties benefit,” said 

the Director of the OJSC Special Economic 

Zones branch. �

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