MOSCOW. Oct 19 (Interfax-AVN) - Negotiations on China's involvement in the development and production of the Russian-Ukrainian AN-70 military transport are underway, Leonid Terentyev, director general of the Medium Transport Plane international consortium, said on Friday.
"We are negotiating on China's possible involvement as an equal partner in the programme of AN-70 design and serial production," Terentyev told Interfax-Military News Agency.
"Medium Transport Plane has on many occasions stressed that the AN-70 programme is open for any countries of the world. In was confirmed by the AN-7H project concerning development of a medium transport plane in the framework of a European tender," Terentyev said. He recalled the Russian-Ukrainian intergovernmental agreement on the consortium dated May 18, 1999, which says that the consortium can admit third parties if they sign agreements with the Russian and Ukrainian governments on joint realisation of the programme, and if they undertake to implement the state order and take part in the programme's financing.
Russian and Ukrainian experts are specifying China's requirements to a military transport of a new generation, which is to be designed on the basis of AN-70. "The Russian-Ukrainian party is negotiating with China at the level of military and aviation specialists and industry representatives. In fact, the same format was used for negotiations with Western partners on the AN-7H plane." Terentyev said.
The parties are not discussing licensed production of AN-70 in China, the director stressed.
"Negotiations with China can result in signing of a contract. Experience shows that at least two years pass from the start of working negotiations to the signing of the contract. Serious talks with China on the AN-70 plane started in November 2000. The share of accomplished pre-contract work makes about 30 percent by now," Terentyev said.
According to him, Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Leonid Kuchma of Ukraine are expected to meet in November to make a principal decision on speeding up serial production of AN-70 in both countries. The parties are drafting documents and materials related to escalation of research and tests related to AN-70 and mastering of the plane's serial production at the Polyot enterprise in Russia's Omsk and the Aviant plant in the Ukrainian capital Kiev.