Putin Always Calls For Supporting Domestic Aviation Industry - Peskov

Russian President Vladimir Putin always recommends to support the domestic aviation industry, Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday, commenting on reports that Russian airline Pobeda was declined acquisition of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft

MOSCOW/SOCHI (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 15th March, 2019) Russian President Vladimir Putin always recommends to support the domestic aviation industry, Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday, commenting on reports that Russian airline Pobeda was declined acquisition of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft.

On Thursday, the Russian Vedomosti newspaper reported citing sources that the Russian Government's Subcommission on the Military-Industrial Complex, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Yury Borisov, back in December had not approved acquisition of 30 Boeing 737 MAX jets for the Russian state-owned low-cost airline Pobeda. The commission reportedly called on the company to consider purchasing the MC-21 medium-range passenger aircraft instead. However, the spokesman of Borisov told the newspaper that the commission would approve the acquisition of Boeing aircraft if the Russian producers fail to deliver substitutes in 2022.

"This, of course, is entirely the prerogative of the Cabinet, but as for the position of the president - a consistent and fairly tough position of the president, of course, he always strongly recommends supporting the domestic aviation industry, drawing the attention of this aviation industry to the need of meeting all high international standards," Peskov said.

Meanwhile, Borisov said that Russian aviation industry would receive priority in modernizing the fleet of the national carriers, but only if that met the interests of passengers.

"If the Russian aviation industry is able to deliver its products by the time needed for the modernization of the fleet, [based on best] price-quality ratio ... we will always give a preference to Russian producers. That is common, all countries are doing the same. But [this should be done] not to the detriment of services that should be provided to our population," Borisov told reporters on the sidelines of the Leaders of Russia managerial contest's finals.

The concerns about the use of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft rose worldwide following deadly crashes in Ethiopia and Indonesia. A number of countries have suspended flights on this type of jets. On Thursday, Russian Federal Air Transport Agency Rosaviatsiya also banned flights of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft in Russia's airspace until further notice.