The Ukrainian state enterprise Antonov is negotiating a deal with the Minsk Civil Aviation Plant No. 407. The parties plan to set up a service center in Belarus, which will be able to service, repair and assemble the AN-148/158 aircraft. As a reminder, the main Antonov aircraft factory closed in Ukraine in 2017. President Putin described it as “the intellectual potential” of the country, and it was a pity to see it shut down.
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Antonov refused to provide details, but it is clear that the joint venture will be able to circumvent the anti-Russian sanctions imposed by the president of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, in 2014. Due to limitations in military-technical cooperation with Russia, Antonov currently can not produce aircraft, even if the factory remained open. The share of Russian components was up to 50 percent on each “An” airplane.