Potential customers do not rush to order planes from the state enterprise Antonov, since since the change of management in June 2015 the company has not released any new serial aircraft. About this in his article for ZN. UA writes Dmitry Mendeleyev.
The author notes that Antonov's reports from international exhibitions regarding the received portfolio of orders are impressive, but the real state of affairs in this area is very different from the "information noise" created by the military-industrial complex officials.
"To date, with a certain degree of optimism, we can only talk about the contract for the delivery of Silk Way (Azerbaijan) 10 An-178 aircraft. This contract was signed by the enterprise even before the presidential landing of new managers. In fairness, we should note the existence of an agreement on the joint production of 12 copies of An-178 for Beijing A-Star Science & Technology Co. , Ltd (China), yet not realized in the form of a contract. This can put a point ... This is all, "- reads the article.
Mendeleev emphasizes that as of April 2017, no one Antonov aircraft was ordered by Saudi Arabia, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, or anyone else.
"Why are there no orders? Where did they go? After all, before orders were, though not giant. 50 AN-148 and AN-158, six AN-32s entered the Air Force of Iraq, four An-32s joined the Ministry of Emergencies of Ukraine, several AN-74 went to Kazakhstan, Laos, others countries. The answer is simple: potential customers are well aware of the state of affairs in the aircraft industry of Ukraine and do not share the information optimism of its leaders. They are more concerned with the question of whether our leading enterprise is capable of building airplanes in general? ", - the author notes.
Mendeleev points out that the last An-148 was completed and handed over to customers exactly two years ago - in April 2015, and only after 2 months the president changed the management of the enterprise. From that moment (t. - during the second half of 2015, in 2016 and the first half of 2017), customers were not given a single aircraft. According to the author, the current situation is unprecedented for the aviation industry of Ukraine.
"The above-mentioned contract with Azerbaijan and the agreement with China have not yet reached the stage of implementation. Not only has the AN-178 series production been not started (and in the current year, according to the accepted obligations, it is necessary to hand over at least two aircraft), even preparations for it did not begin. Yes, there is training, all flight and certification tests of the An-178 are stopped! In fact, the program stopped halfway. So what can be the orders? ", Reads the article.
At the same time, Mendeleev draws attention to the fact that in the assembly shop "Antonova" for about three years there are 10 unfinished An-148 and An-158. Some aircraft are almost ready, but not equipped with engines and some on-board equipment.
"About 60 million dollars have been inadvertently frozen for years. That's what this "iron". This wealth is covered with a thick layer of dust, and before that nobody cares. Aircraft do not finish building. Is this really done deliberately? ", The author asks the question.