Ukraine International Airlines (UIA, Kyiv) is ready to transport vaccines.
“Since the beginning of 2021, the active stage of vaccination has begun all over the world, which will tend to increase throughout the current year. In order to ensure safe delivery of vaccines, UIA has prepared Boeing 737 and Boeing 767 aircraft to transport the vaccines as cargo,” the press service of UIA said on Monday.
The airline also expressed its readiness to transport the vaccine not only to Ukraine, but all over the world. At the same time, it is noted that given the peculiarities of compliance with the required temperature regimes, transportation of the vaccine by air is the fastest and most reliable method of delivery.
According to the company, since the implementation of quarantine measures, UIA has transported 870 tonnes of medical cargo.
The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine and state-owned enterprise (SOE) Antonov signed a memorandum of cooperation in the construction of aircraft for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The memorandum was signed with the participation of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, the press service of the head of state said.
At the first stage, this is about three new military transport aircraft An-178, which will receive the Armed Forces of Ukraine. They can be used for the delivery of personnel, weapons and light military equipment by landing and parachute methods, as well as for the transportation of goods.
“These new aircraft will be constructed by Ukrainian citizens, from Ukrainian components, for Ukrainian interests. Actually, the way it should be,” Zelensky said before the document signing ceremony, which took place at SOE Antonov.
The Turkish side at the recent negotiations between the presidents of the two countries in Ankara announced its interest in the possibility of completing the second unit of the world’s largest transport aircraft An-225 Mriya, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Strategic Industries of Ukraine Oleh Urusky has said.
“The situation was quite strange for me when, during the visit, President of Turkey and me raised the issue of completing the second Mriya and even despite the sum I said it would cost, the Turkish side said that we would continue discussion,” Urusky said at a press conference in Kyiv.
According to him, experts’ negotiations on this issue are expected.
“We cannot either complete the manufacture of Ruslan (An-125) or build new ones. However, we can complete the manufacture of Mriya both theoretically and practically,” the deputy prime minister said.
He added that the matter concerns the possibility of purchasing the An-178 medium transport aircraft, since Turkey has an interest in strategic transport aircraft.
The An-225 Mriya is the largest and most powerful transport aircraft in the world, created by Kyiv Antonov Design Bureau. The An-225 with a maximum curb weight of 640 tonnes is the heaviest aircraft in the world. In November 2004, the World Air Sports Federation included the An-225 into the Guinness World Records for its 240 records.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky believes that Ukraine and Turkey could jointly do a lot in the field of aircraft construction and the creation of unmanned aircraft systems.
“As for the Antonov aircraft, we are certainly pleased with the interest in this enterprise. It is just as logical that in the field of aircraft construction, we can do a lot together with our Turkish friends,” he said in an interview with the Demirören Turkish news agency, answering a question whether there are new joint projects that the two countries plan to implement in the defense industry, and whether it is possible to start joint production of Turkish unmanned aircraft and the Antonov aircraft.
Zelensky said that Turkish unmanned aircraft have proven to be the best. “This is exactly the type of hardware that can completely change the situation on the battlefield. We are certainly interested in joint production. There is nothing special to explain, everything is simple. Turkey is showing serious success in this sector, and we purchase these products. Ukraine, in turn, produces engines for unmanned aircraft. Therefore, the launch of a joint venture is a natural move,” he said.
The president also said that these are far from all areas in which Ukraine can and expects to cooperate with Turkey in the context of the defense industry. “Engine building, development of air defense systems, joint production of a corvette-class ship. The potential for cooperation is huge,” Zelensky said.
The Antonov State Enterprise (Kyiv) plans to enter the final stage in terms of testing, certifying and creating a new configuration of the An-178 medium cargo transport aircraft without Russian components, State Enterprise President Oleksandr Los has said in an interview with the Ekonomichna Pravda edition.
“Beginning from January 1, 2023, we are to expand the production of An-178 to 12 aircraft per year alongside developing financial framework, expanding markets, and processing state orders from Ukrainian companies,” he said.
“This is what we obtain from the potential marketing analysis that is needed by Ukrainian state authorities and meets the demands of our potential customers,” he added.
Los explained that due to the historically existing dependence on Russian components, the An-178 is the only immediately prepared serial production to date.
“Passenger An-158 aircraft is in order, since both models are related in terms of equipment. We are also starting to work on the aircraft under the working name of An-188,” the Antonov president said.
According to him, three An-148 and ten An-158 aircraft are currently in the Antonov serial production workshops at different stages of completion.
The president of the state enterprise said that for the time being COVID-19 pandemic complicates the work of Antonov, but plans are implemented as scheduled.
“As soon as I tried to increase the number of employees, the number of COVID cases immediately increased,” Los said, adding that the chief engineer of the enterprise had recovered from coronavirus.
Austria has canceled the ban on landing aircraft from Ukraine since August 1, but the general regime of entry for Ukrainian citizens into this country remains unchanged – entry for tourism purposes will remain banned, Ukrainian Ambassador to Vienna Oleksandr Scherba has said.
“I have two news – good and bad. The good news is that starting from August 1, Austria will lift the ban on landing aircraft from “at-risk countries,” including Ukraine. The bad news is that it looks like the general regime the entry of Ukrainians into Austria remains unchanged, that is, there is no tourism. Those who have a residence permit, those who fly for special family reasons (wedding, family reunification, funeral…), as well as for urgent treatment can enter. They must have a fresh COVID-19 test taken,” he wrote on Facebook on Friday.
According to Scherba, an official note on the new regime is expected on Saturday.
“I know that there are a lot of questions from Ukrainian students who have just entered Austrian universities, therefore they do not yet have a residence permit. I don’t have an answer about the order of their arrival yet. If I have, I’ll write,” the diplomat said.
