ROSTOV-ON-DON, August 22 (RIA Novosti) – The Russian government will allocate about 36 billion rubles ($1.12 billion) for the development of the civilian helicopter manufacturing industry up to 2020, President Vladimir Putin said Thursday.
There are “huge untapped reserves” in the sector, he said, calling for its continual development.
The current priority is to significantly increase civilian helicopter supplies both to foreign markets and the domestic market, Putin told an industry conference, adding that there was huge domestic demand for special-purpose rotary-winged aircraft, such as medical evacuation, rescue, cargo, passenger and other types of helicopters.
Russian Helicopters, Moscow-based holding that says on its website that it’s the “sole Russian rotorcraft designer,” has a portfolio of export and domestic orders for 870 helicopters through 2020, worth about 388 billion rubles, Putin said.
The holding, which is planning to manufacture 321 helicopters this year, should get to control 18 percent of the world’s helicopter market and build no less than 470 helicopters a year, boosting its sales to 240 billion rubles, the president said.
