PARIS. June 14 (Interfax-AVN) - The Russian government is planning to assign a total of $286 million for the Russian Regional Jet (RRJ) development program over a period of four years, Viktor Subbotin, director general of the Sukhoi Civil Aircraft company, said on Tuesday.
Allocations will amount to $6 million this year, $100 million in 2006, $150 million in 2007, and $30 million in 2008, Subbotin said at the presentation of the RRJ program's updated schedule at Paris Air Show 2005.
"The funds are not supposed to be returned. This is the direct state funding," he stressed.
According to Subbotin, state support of the program "is an extremely important aspect of its funding."
The state also provides guarantees for loans amounting to $151 million, including $81 million in 2005. Talks with a bank are underway on a $59 million loan, $36 million of which are to be provided this year, Subbotin said.
"The funds allocated for the program by the government are quite real, because the decision to provide this volume of funding has been made, and this will give an impetus to the program," he noted.
"Some funding sources insure each other in order to decrease risks. Thus, full funding amounts to $884 million, and what is really needed amounts to $766 million. This way we are trying to create a backlog of funding sources and funding volumes, so that it will be possible to compensate for insufficient funding from one source by using another source," he said.
According to Subbotin, this kind of state support "makes us sure that there will be no funding problems."
He recalled that the state has already provided guarantees for a $98 million from Vneshtorgbank. In addition, the Sukhoi company will soon get a loan of $33 million from the Savings Bank.