MOSCOW. Nov 11 (Interfax-AVN) - A source in the Russian government confirmed to Interfax-Military News Agency on Tuesday that a resolution appointing a new director general of the MIG aircraft corporation may be signed in a few days.
"The resolution appointing a new director general of the MIG corporation may be signed in the nearest future. There are several candidates for the position, but Deputy Director General of the Sukhoi military aircraft corporation Valery Toryanin has the highest chances as of today," the source said.
Toryanin's name was initially on the list of candidates which also included Andrei Belyaninov, director general of the Rosoboronexport state-owned arms trading company, and Alexander Dondukov, member of the Federation Council upper house of Russian parliament and ex-designer general of the Yakovlev company.
As Russia is planning to create a single aircraft building corporation based on the Sukhoi corporation in the future, Toryanin's appointment is most logical, the source said.
Toryanin has experience in the sphere of military-technical cooperation. Before joining Sukhoi in November 2000, he headed the special purpose property and services exports department in the Rosvoorouzhenie company.
The new MIG CEO will have to arrange implementation of the contract for the supplies of over 20 MIG-29K Fulcrum deck fighters to India. The contract, whose value totals about USD700m, is to be signed this month.
The MIG corporation declined to comment on the forthcoming appointment. A source in the corporation's management told Interfax-AVN that nobody has discussed the issue with them.
The sacking of previous director general Nikolai Nikitin affected the morale of the company's personnel and may result in economic losses, he said.
"Nikitin conducted all the talks on supplies of MIG-29 fighters for the Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier. In particular, he was the one who negotiated the contract value. When the announcement on Nikitin's sacking was made, the Indian party started trying to bring down the value," the source said. He did not rule out that the signing of the contract will be postponed.
Complications with other foreign partners of the corporation have emerged as well, the source went on.
"It is no longer important for us today who will be appointed director general, we just need him/her to be appointed as soon as possible," he said.
Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov signed a resolution removing Nikitin from the position of the MIG director general and designer general on November 4.