The Antonov State Enterprise (Kyiv) will exhibit new medium-haul transport An-77 and An-178 aircraft at the Eurasia 2018 Airshow to be held on April 25 through April 29 in Antalya (Turkey). The press service of the enterprise told Interfax-Ukraine on Tuesday that the new Ukrainian transport aircraft arrived to Turkey on April 22 will take part in the flight show of the exhibition and will be presented to potential customers at a stand.
The press service said that Antonov plans to hold a series of meetings and negotiations with representatives of government agencies, industrial enterprises and air carriers of Turkey and other countries to discuss areas of cooperation in the medium-haul transport programs for An-178, the family of regional passenger new generation An-148/ n-158, An-77 transport aircraft with short take-off and landing and unmanned aerial systems. “All these programs are planned to develop and implement within broad international cooperation,” the enterprise said.
The new An-178 aircraft is created to replace An-12 planes and is designed for the effective fulfillment of its tasks as a transport aircraft, including logistics and transportation of equipment. Some experts say the An-178 aircraft can serve as a modern replacement of the C-160. The aircraft has a modified form of fuselage, a ramp for loading and unloading of bulky cargo and can lift up to 18 tons of cargo, including heavy maritime containers. The industrial cooperation program for the An-178 involves about 200 companies from fifteen countries. The Antonov Enterprise is promoting the aircraft in the Middle East and Central Asia. The United Arab Emirates, China and Azerbaijan expressed interest in the new Ukrainian transport aircraft.
According to the sources of Interfax-Ukraine in the industry, currently the Antonov State Enterprise is also negotiating with the European NATO countries on the joint development of the An-178 program. The new medium-haul military transport An-77 aircraft is a modification of the military transport An-70 aircraft with short take-off and landing with a maximum carrying capacity of 47 tonnes.
AIRSHOW, ANTONOV, EURASIA 2018, MEDIUM-HAUL AIRCRAFTS, TURKEY
Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman has said that Ukraine intends to sign an agreement on a free trade zone (FTA) with Turkey before the end of 2018. “Tomorrow, a delegation headed by the first deputy PM is coming back. We are going to sign an agreement on a free trade zone with Turkey this year,” the head of the government said on the Inter TV channel on Friday. Groysman said that this agreement would positively contribute to the development of the country’s economy.
Ukraine and Turkey have made progress in negotiations on a free trade zone (FTA), agreeing to include agricultural products in the agreement along with the industrial ones, Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade, Trade Representative of Ukraine Natalia Mykolska has said.
“Negotiations are ongoing. That is why, since everything has not been agreed yet, I cannot disclose anything. The next round of negotiations is scheduled for May. It is quite progressive that we have agreed with Turkey to include industrial and agricultural goods in the Agreement,” she said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
According to Mykolska, at the beginning of the negotiation process, it was exclusively about industrial goods in the context of the FTA.
“This is a good progress,” she said.
At the same time, she noted that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) will benefit from the FTA of Ukraine and Israel, negotiations on which have recently completed.
“Even the fact of the completion of the negotiation process will stimulate the business to take a closer look at the Israeli market, especially the small and medium ones, since this market is more inclined to work with SMEs. In addition, Ukrainian products are well-known in this country due to fairly large Ukrainian Diaspora,” she said.
