The financing of new Russian passenger aircraft will be transferred to a new model with active participation of banks and airlines. Instead of the previous reliance on the National Wealth Fund, a significant part of the funds is planned to be attracted from the banking sector, and the total funding volume will amount to hundreds of billions of rubles. This was announced by Deputy Head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Gennady Abramenkov.
The new scheme was developed with the participation of Sber and has already been presented to the president. In addition to bank funds, advances from carriers for future deliveries will be a source of financing.
The change in the model will affect Russian airliner programs, including the MC-21 and SJ-100, and for regional transportation, the Il-114-300. According to the Deputy Head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Aeroflot, Red Wings, and Ural Airlines are ready to advance payments for the next batch of aircraft. For the Il-114-300, the department is negotiating with all Far Eastern carriers.
Previously, key projects for the supply of Russian aircraft were mainly financed from the NWF. In particular, 175.4 billion rubles were allocated for the Aeroflot program, and the project for the supply of equipment for Aurora was estimated at 55.1 billion rubles, with 90% of this amount coming from the NWF.
The main risk is associated with the cost of loans. Bank financing is more expensive than preferential NWF funds, so the increase in leasing payments can limit airlines' demand for new aircraft. As a result, carriers may reduce order volumes, which will create additional pressure on production rates.
Not only the speed of fleet renewal but also the pace of serial production of Russian airliners will depend on how expensive the new financing turns out to be.
Read more on the topic:
- 3 Trillion Rubles Will Have to Be Found for the Production of MC-21, Il-114-300, and SJ-100
- Aviation industry in financial hole before delivery of dozens of MC-21, Il-114-300, and SJ-100 aircraft
- MC-21, Il-114-300, and SJ-100 - on the chopping block? The execution of the Russian aircraft industry has been canceled