The Government Increases Budget Financing For An-148 And An-70 Airplanes.

The 2006 Budget allocates USD 8.9 mln for this purpose, while the 2005 budget apportioned only USD 2 mln. The money is to be spent on flying tests for the An-148, further improvements based on the tests and certification. The government also plans put the An-70 into serial production, and fund the creation of D-27 engines for the plane. Concorde Capital: Certifications for the An-148 are to be finished by 1Q06. Thirty-eight orders were placed for the plane at the MAKS-2005 Russian aviation show. Meanwhile, the joint Ukrainian-Russian An-70 project has run into problems. Russia has requested additional testing for the engine to be conducted soon. Ukraine claims it is fulfilling its financing obligation (28% of the total costs) in full, while Russia has only contributed 5% of its obligation. Moreover, it is still not clear whether the Russian Defense Ministry will purchase the plane, as Russia wants to distance itself from Ukrainian military equipment, due to the latter?s plans to join NATO. Motor Sich (MSICH) would benefit from both projects as it is making engines for the planes.