Aircraft parts could be made in Kazan from 2023

MOSCOW. April 1 (Interfax) - Russia could set up a national center for making domestic aircraft parts in Kazan in 2023, Andrei Yelchaninov, first deputy head of the collegium of the military-industrial commission, told Interfax.

"Efforts are underway to create a single center in Kazan to make parts for various types of aircraft, primarily the civilian [Tupolev] Tu-214 and the cargo [Ilyushin] Il-76. It is assumed that the facility would be equipped mainly with Russian-made machinery," Yelchaninov said.

"We are hoping to launch the facility as early as 2023," he added.

The United Aircraft Corporation will provide design estimate documentation.

The matter was discussed with Deputy Prime Minister Yury Borisov during his recent visits to aircraft plants in Kazan and Ulyanovsk, Yelchaninov said. It was noted that most of the assembly facilities had new conveyers and modern workshops, and that the bottleneck in the supply chain was parts production.

Yesterday, Borisov said that President Vladimir Putin had approved the construction of the Kazan center.

Western sanctions against the Russian aviation industry led the Russian authorities to decide on mass production of Tu-214, which is currently produced in limited numbers. The authorities are also considering launching the production of the Soviet-era Il-96 aircraft.