Rumors about Antonov 'cast shadow' on Ukrainian authorities - Kravchuk

KYIV. April 3 (Interfax-Ukraine) - Ukraine's first president (1991-1994), head of the public council in support of aircraft manufacturing and strengthening the country's defense Leonid Kravchuk, has said he believes it is wrong to destabilize the work of Ukraine's leading aircraft manufacturer Antonov (Kyiv).

"Unfortunately, I do not understand talks and cases related to the enterprise observed in recent years… All the facts show that it's all insinuations," Kravchuk said at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine.

Kravchuk said the situation at Antonov and the unfounded accusations against its current leadership entails rumors that "cast a shadow on the government."

Describing the situation as "inadmissible", Kravchuk said that he personally informed the president about this and expressed hope that the president's personal acquaintance with the plant will provide the possibility of "working quietly, without insinuations."

"In the conditions of meager state funding and its complete absence in recent years, revenues from cargo traffic in the amount of about $150 million per year allow the company to expand international cooperation, market new models of aircraft, and strengthen Ukraine's position in the highly competitive global market. Today we have 499 contracts worth about UAH 6 billion," Antonov President Dmytro Kiva said, when asked about the plans to structurally reform the aviation industry under the conditions of Russian aggression, as well as the feasibility of separating the air transport division from the Antonov united property complex, adding that the plant in 2005-2015 completed work on 15 new projects.