Translated material
Lack of government support
United Aircraft Corporation asks to add 50 billion rubles to its budget
President of the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) Alexey Fedorov yesterday at the United Russia party conference in Voronezh asked deputies to double financial support for the aviation industry. The request was received by parliamentarians in a very timely manner - just before today's first reading of the budget for 2008-2010. Speaker of the State Duma, leader of United Russia Boris Gryzlov, under whose chairmanship the off-site meeting was held, expressed the opinion that significant budgetary funding for the aircraft industry should remain in Russia even after the country joins the World Trade Organization (WTO).United Russia held a meeting yesterday in Voronezh on the implementation of the Aviaprom party project. Speaking to its participants, the head of the UAC, Alexey Fedorov, recalled that the draft three-year budget for 2008-2010, now submitted to the State Duma, provides for direct investments in the development of the aviation industry of 6 billion rubles. annually. “A number of areas are not reflected in the state support program: engine building, avionics, production of component materials... It is necessary to find approximately another 50 billion rubles for these purposes,” Mr. Fedorov said. He asked United Russia to double the corresponding budget item.
Boris Gryzlov, without citing specific figures, agreed with the need for government financial injections into the industry. “The level of state support for the aviation industry is now quite high, and we should not reduce it even after joining the WTO,” he said. As is known, the WTO, in principle, does not approve of subsidies for certain industries or enterprises by national governments, considering such subsidies as a violation of freedom of competition. True, this principle is translated into real practice with great difficulty. For example, the American government and the European Commission have been conducting fruitless proceedings within the WTO for several years, mutually accusing each other of illegally subsidizing aircraft manufacturing concerns Boeing and Airbus. As for Russia, when it joins the WTO, it expects to receive the right to maintain state support for its aviation industry for a “transition period” of ten years.
Regarding the scheme for providing this support, Mr. Gryzlov’s parliamentary faction expresses ideas that differ from those that the speaker publicly supported in Voronezh. “Technically, it is, of course, possible to increase the corresponding article, since the parliament is at the very beginning of the process of considering the budget,” State Duma deputy from United Russia Alexander Lebedev told Vremya Novostei yesterday. — However, I believe that support for the domestic aviation industry should be provided not through direct financing, but through the mechanism of state guarantees for loans attracted for aircraft construction projects. This would ensure a more transparent and market-based relationship between all parties involved in these projects. And direct budget payments corrupt. From the state’s point of view, state guarantees are much more effective. Funds for them, of course, also need to be included in the budget. However, if the projects that the state has guaranteed go as planned, then there is no need to spend these funds. “I will ensure that the new budget provides support for the aviation industry in the form of state guarantees.”
It should, however, be noted that Mr. Lebedev defended the same idea when discussing the 2007 budget. However, she did not find support either in the Ministry of Finance or in the State Duma.