The Transportation Ministry plans to allocate National Wealth Fund money to airlines for buying foreign aircraft by September's end.
Deputy Transport Minister Igor Chalik confirmed that apart from Aeroflot, no other airlines have received the allocated funds yet.
Earlier in March, it was announced that around 300 billion rubles were designated for the purchase of foreign aircraft, with Aeroflot already using a portion to buy Boeing 777s.
MOSCOW — The Russian Transportation Ministry is optimistic about channeling funds from the National Wealth Fund (NWF) to facilitate airlines in acquiring foreign-made planes. Deputy Transport Minister, Igor Chalik, emphasized their progress and commented, "The questions are mainly organizational," during a statement to the media on Monday.
Although Aeroflot has benefited from the funding to procure 10 Boeing 777s, Chalik acknowledged that other airlines are still awaiting the funds. He stated, "It's a work in progress, and while it's challenging to pinpoint an exact timeframe for completion, our objective is to wrap up the program by the end of September."
Transport Minister Vitaly Savelyev had earlier, in March, informed that the government had set aside approximately 300 billion rubles from the NWF explicitly for this purpose. On a related note, in June, Aeroflot CEO Sergei Aleksandrovsky mentioned the company's ongoing negotiations with foreign lessors, hinting at potential "insurance settlements" for an additional 47 leased liners.
