Article Posted on : - Feb 03, 2011

Mikhail Pogasyan will be the new chief of United Aircraft Corporation.

MOSCOW (PTI): Chief of Russia’s Sukhoi holding company, Mikhail Pogasyan, will replace Alexei Feodorov as the CEO of the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), according to a top Kremlin aide.

"The President ordered the administration and the government to evaluate the responsibility of a number of companies, and the decision on one of the companies has been made.

“Pogosyan will take over the United Aircraft Corporation,” Kremlin economic aide Arkady Dvorkovich said in a televised statement.

Mikhail Pogosyan's Sukhoi Holding is involved in the development of fifth generation fighter aircraft (FGFA) on the basis of PAK-FA T-50 project in which India also has a stake.

Fyodorov lost his post for failing to implement President Medvedev’s orders on drafting innovation programmes for the company, Ria Novosti reported.

UAC, a state-controlled corporation, was established in 2006 to streamline the Russian aircraft making industry.

It incorporates aircraft-making and affiliated firms engaged in the manufacture, design and marketing of civilian and military aircraft, including unmanned aerial vehicles.

Fyodorov, a top business manager, had set up Russia's first private fighter production facility on the basis of Irkut aircraft plant and due to massive Indian order for Sukhoi Su-30MKI multirole fighters awarded to this plant, he became one of the most powerful actors in post-Soviet Russia’s aircraft industry.

India most likely not picking the MiG-35 fighter under its multi-billion MMRCA tender for the acquisition 126 fighters had weakened Feodorov's hold and he is also blamed for delay in the implementation of Indo-Russian multi-role transport aircraft (MTA) project initially to be produced by Irkut.

Quoting sources, ITAR-TASS reported that CEO of Irkut corporation Oleg Demchenko, a Feodorov's appointee, may also lose his job to ex-vice premier Boris Alyoshin, who once was linked to bilateral ties with India.