Vitaly Antonov, General Director of Espro Development. Diana Mikhailova, independent military expert

ABOUT WORK

I graduated from the Moscow Aviation Institute with a degree in power plant design. aircraft". specialized in liquid rocket engines, and then on solid propellant. I would have done this later, but, unfortunately, no one needed rockets, factories were closed. But education remained, it came in handy when working in the real estate sector, where there is equipment, and constructive solutions, and communication with people, and some knowledge of materials is in demand. I was lucky: in my work something is constantly changing. At first I worked as an office security officer, then I became a non-real estate manager. After that, he already switched to work in the real estate market, but even here every few years there was a change in the type of activity or a transition to another position with a different range of responsibilities and issues to be resolved. Every time you learn something new, work does not have time to get bored. It is the interest in the work that keeps me here, and not something else.

ON TRUST IN WORK

It happened that I caught myself thinking that the first contacts are very difficult, but after a few meetings you suddenly realize that you can work with this person. He knows where I start to sparkle, and I know what corns he shouldn’t step on, and he goes normal work. But this is rare. More often than not, I immediately understand if I can deal with this person. Depending on this, I will have a contract with this counterparty (if it depends on me) or there will be no contract. We proceed from what is primary in the relationship between legal entities decency in contractors, and only then comes the legal framework. Conceptual agreements are higher than a legal contract. If a person is insincere and you expect deception from him all the time, then most often this happens. Or you just think that the person is deceiving you, and the connection is interrupted. The first impression gives a lot. You can remember our project "A-Park". We didn't have much time then. There is no time to hold a tender, you can’t really sign a contract, the only way to work is trust on a human level in a counterparty, which either exists or not. In this case it worked. Just the other day, a paper arrived, which says that in a year and a half we have gone from the first signed document to obtaining a certificate of ownership of the production facility. This is just an example of how human connections with a counterparty help.

ABOUT REST

I really like to travel. I love any excursions, starting with excursions around Moscow, where there are interesting places that I would never have known about myself. I like skiing, I like rafting down the rivers. I have already passed a large number of rivers and streams. And on rafts, and on kayaks, and in the men's company, and on the so-called children's trips, where wives and children are allowed. I try to do both kite and windsurfing. Vacation should be fundamentally different from work and should never take place at home. You have to go somewhere, you have to see something. Gain vivid impressions, because this is the only thing that will remain for a long time. One of my last vivid impressions: my son was trying to catch up with the fish, swimming in a mask, and I saw how he was leaving me - a receding red spot and a bubble from his feet thrashing in the water. I also remember when we, sailing on a yacht, went out on a desert island, and although there were friends and friends nearby, you completely feel that you are on a desert island and there is nothing - just wind, sand flying along the beach, and the ocean.

ABOUT RETIRED LIFE

I think when I retire, I will have a house somewhere in Russia, but not in Moscow, with good view. Nearby there will be, for example, a monastery or an old city with shiny roofs somewhere in the distance. I would like there to be silence, but at the same time there was the Internet and a car at hand, so that you could go anywhere at any time. I will also travel in a variety of ways. There is nothing fantastic in dreams, you just want vivid impressions. Now work - main source emotions, but I want impressions from something else besides work. I would go to China, I would raft down some American rivers. I would drive from one US coast to another in a rented van. I would raft in Nepal. These are plans for the first five months of life in retirement.

ABOUT READING

When I have time, I read science fiction, technical literature. Magazines "Popular Mechanics", "Science and Life", "Technology of Youth". With the existing schedule, there is no time left for serious, thoughtful reading, a short form is needed that can be read in a short period of time. The novel is hard to read, but the story is still possible. Everything somehow degenerates into a comic. The scientific periodicals I love have changed a lot lately. I recall with nostalgia the magazines "Young Technician" and "Young Naturalist" - I would subscribe them to children now, but I would read them first myself. Everything was written interestingly and, most importantly, systematically. And now even popular science publications often publish superficial articles. The quality of journalism is poor.

TRAVELING WITH COLLEAGUES

We have annual obligatory events in our company: the whole company gets on a bus and leaves for rafting for a few days. It was interesting to observe the reaction of people who were literally forced to go there. Including girls and older employees. At first there were dissatisfied, and then people themselves asked when the next rafting would be. It turned out to be interesting. It may very well be that the tourist experience will be a plus when applying for a job. We sometimes have to sit in line for a long time to put the necessary signature, climb around the construction site in the dust. If a person goes on such trips, it means that he is very calm about comfort, about working conditions. He is interested in the process, and not in how luxurious an office he will get. This says a lot about a person.

ABOUT GIFTS

Gifts mean a lot, they speak about the attitude of the one who gives the gift. Here is an abstract example. March 8, the office of the chief architect of the district. This woman decides who to give building permits, often projects worth tens of millions of dollars depend on her. Everyone wants to have with her good relationship, therefore, on March 8, a competition begins, who has a larger bouquet. Against this background, the book about the Istra Monastery donated by the Espro company, which we published ourselves, immediately stands out. It becomes clear that people look at life differently, they worked hard, making this gift, put their soul into it. This does not mean that we will skip the queue or receive illegal permission, but the level of relations will be different. The easiest way is to go to the store, buy a bouquet of flowers on duty and give it away. In addition to flowers with this bouquet, you will not convey anything, and if, in addition to this, there is a movement of thought, then this is felt in the gift.

By decision of the Mining Collegium of the Supreme Mining Council of NP Miners of Russia, the Gold Badge of Miner of Russia was awarded to: Ivan Nikolayevich ANTONOV, General Director of OAO Acron.

NP "Miners of Russia", friends and colleagues, the editorial staff of the journal "Mining Industry" congratulate the winner of the Golden Badge "Miner of Russia" with a high award, wish him good health, happiness, well-being in life and further success in his professional activities.

Ivan Nikolaevich Antonov was born on August 20, 1950 in the Leningrad Region. In 1973, after graduating from the Lensoviet Leningrad Technological Institute with a degree in Chemistry and Technology of Sorbents, he began his career at the Novgorod Chemical Combine (today Akron OJSC) as a shift supervisor of the acetaldehyde and acetic acid. In 1976–1980 I.N. Antonov worked in various workshops of the enterprise, acquiring invaluable production experience and the qualifications of the head of departments.

In the 1980s, there was a rapid development in the USSR agro-industrial complex. For a sustainable increase in crop yields in the country, it was necessary to establish its own production of complex mineral fertilizers. To build a completely new Soviet Union production, the best specialists of the industry were involved, and in August 1982, for the first time in the country, a unit for the production of highly concentrated nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium fertilizer was put into operation in Novgorod. Ivan Nikolaevich Antonov became the head of advanced production.

In the early 1990s, the Novgorod enterprise was privatized and gained economic, technical and economic independence. In 1993 I.N. Antonov headed the service foreign market JSC Akron, and in 1995 joined the Board of Directors and a year later was elected Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors. In 1998 he was awarded the title of Honored Chemist Russian Federation».

In 2005 I.N. Antonov took the position of the General Director of JSC "Akron". In the same year, a long-term investment program for the development of the enterprise was adopted. A lot has been done since that time: new production facilities for formalin/KFK and amino resins, liquid UAN fertilizer were launched, a large-scale modernization of ammonia units was carried out, and several large facilities were built. Over the past 10 years, the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs has named Acron the best industrial enterprise in the country in various categories.

Under the leadership of I.N. Antonov, Acron is successfully following the course taken back in the early 2000s to build a vertically integrated holding. Ivan Nikolaevich did everything possible to make the name of Akron sound significant on the scale of the Russian and world economy. Today, Acron is a dynamically developing group of interrelated companies, one of the world's leading producers of mineral fertilizers. The group comprises three major manufacturing enterprises, has its own transport infrastructure and international sales network, and also develops raw materials projects.

“President of Acron Group Ivan Nikolaevich Antonov is our idea generator. Everything new and interesting comes from him,” says Akron Executive Director V.V. Gavrikov. At the same time, Ivan Nikolayevich pays special attention to the implementation social projects in production. In 2008, a residential complex for young specialists from Akron OJSC was put into operation in Veliky Novgorod. For many years, the company has been running programs for employees and veterans of production: “Health”, “Protection of motherhood, childhood and support for family development”, “Support for labor veterans”.

The environmental protection activities of the enterprise are extremely important for the head of Akron. In 2009, Akron employees headed by I.N. Antonov became laureates of the Prize of the Government of the Russian Federation in the field of science and technology for the development and implementation innovative technologies biological wastewater treatment industrial enterprises and public utilities in Veliky Novgorod. The implementation of this innovative environmental project is important not only for the operation of the enterprise, but also for the life of Veliky Novgorod and the entire North-West of Russia.

Today, Acron Group's key task is to create its own resource base. Since 2006, under the direct supervision of I.N. Antonov Acron is actively developing mining projects. In 2006, an enterprise of the Group CJSC NWPC received state licenses for the right to develop the Oleniy Ruchey and Partomchorr apatite-nepheline ore deposits in Murmansk region, and this year the full-scale construction of the mining and processing plant began. In 2008, another Group company, LLC VKK, received a license to develop the Talitsky area of ​​the Verkhnekamskoye potassium-magnesium salt deposit in the Perm Territory. As in other projects implemented by Acron under the leadership of Ivan Nikolayevich, during the development of deposits, special attention is paid to environmental protection, as well as cooperation with local administrations in the socio-economic sphere.

The professional activity of Ivan Nikolaevich Antonov has been deservedly marked by many state awards, including the Order of the Badge of Honor, the medal "In Commemoration of the 1150th Anniversary of Veliky Novgorod", the badge of honor "For Services to Veliky Novgorod", two prizes of the Government of the Russian Federation in the field of science and technology. In honor of his 60th birthday, Ivan Nikolaevich was awarded the badge of distinction “For Services to the Novgorod Region” by the Decree of the Governor of the Novgorod Region, and by the decision of the Duma of Veliky Novgorod - the badge of honor “For Services to Veliky Novgorod”.

REUTERS/Gleb Garanich

Diana Mikhailova, independent military expert

True, the presented changes cannot yet be considered final, given that the Ukroboronprom concern on August 26, 2015 announced "a competitive selection for the replacement vacant position President of the State Enterprise "Antonov", an enterprise of particular importance for the economy." The selection of participants ended on October 6, and the publication of the results should take place before October 30. However, with a high degree of certainty it can be assumed that the prefix "Acting." will soon disappear before the surname Mikhail Gvozdev, already president since June of this year.

This conclusion is not only a careful reading of the requirements for the applicant, which are written out taking into account the applicant's achievements:

- higher education in the relevant field of activity. Higher education Gvozdev received in Khmelnitsky national university graduated in 2010 with a degree in Economics and Entrepreneurship;

- Desired knowledge of the state language. No comments;

- At least 5 years work experience leadership positions. Labor activity started in 2001 as financial manager of OOO " Trading house"Prestige-Auto", so Gvozdev has been in charge since the age of 28;

— successful experience in negotiating with international counterparties (experience in senior positions in international companies in Ukraine/abroad is considered an additional advantage). More than 10 years of managing companies with participation foreign capital, importing cars assume the presence of such experience.

The published information about a group of new aviation managers in Ukraine also confirms who is "the boss in the house." First of all, from the previous composition to 12 managers, including three first vice presidents, directors and ordinary vice presidents in the new list is present only six.

Secondly, it is also important who all these people are. Four of the six, including Gvozdev himself, came from the Khmelnytsky region, who specialized in the sale of imported cars. And if those who appeared on the "Antonov" immediately after him Alexander Kotsyuba and Andrey Tarasyuk, retained the positions of First Vice President and Vice President, then appeared in the new composition Vitaly Movchan also became Vice President of Corporate Rights and Intellectual Property, previously a fixed-term employment contract on an ongoing basis assistant-consultant of the People's Deputy of Ukraine of the 8th convocation Mikhail Gvozdev.

It is easy to understand that the management of the Ukrainian aviation giant is already almost completely in the safe hands of a fairly friendly and close-knit group that would not change the previous no less attractive places to apply their efforts without even better prospects. True, taking into account the already announced plans strategic development enterprises in the medium term, they are unlikely to contribute to the flourishing in Ukraine.

Thirdly, it is also interesting that Only two people remained from the previous composition of the leadership of the Antonov State Enterprise. General designer Dmitry Kiva, who combined this position with the position of president before the appointment of Gvozdev, and Viktor Sementsov, who lost the prefixes "First" and "General", became Vice President - Executive Director for Production. In principle, it is they who can be considered specialized aviation specialists. The number of "losses" includes both less visible figures Valery Mayevsky, Vice President for Human Resources and Security and Viktor Shvets, Vice President for Legal and International Legal Affairs, who gained great fame as a lawyer for Yulia Tymoshenko, and members of Dmitry Kiva's team, who controlled production and finances. First of all, this his eldest son - Alexander Kiva, Vice President - Deputy General Designer (for marketing, sales and after-sales service), who until recently, they were predicted to be "successors of the dynasty" in the highest post of the Antonov Design Bureau. Grigory Rudyuk, First Vice President - Chief Designer, also was considered as an alternative option for a possible head of the Antonov State Enterprise.

Nikolai Podgrebelny, Vice-President - Director of the branch of the Antonov State Enterprise "Antonov Serial Plant" and Alexander Gritsenko, Vice-President, Head of the LIiDB, General Director of the ATP of the Antonov State Enterprise, covered the issues of serial production and operation of the Gostomel airfield, and Yury Andrienko, Vice President for Finance and Economics, controls considerable cash flows. The last and decisive sign of the defeat of the “Kiva team” was the absence of managers in the list Konstantin Lushakov, executive director of Antonov Airlines, a person who has been in charge of all issues related to the commercial operation of the fleet of seven Ruslans and Mriya, which brought the company the main income, since the creation of the airline. However, do not forget that the younger the son of the current general designer, Maxim Kiva, manages the London company "Ruslan International Limited", which directly represents Antonov Airlines, in which some formal changes took place in early October. It is possible that it is precisely such reliable control "from the West" that still allows his father to retain the position of general designer, which continues the intrigue.

As can be seen even from a very superficial analysis personnel changes, the situation in the aviation segment of Ukraine is developing by analogy with changes in the military-industrial complex, to which it has been subordinate for almost a year. With the only difference that Ukroboronprom notes asylum of immigrants from the Kherson region. But what unites both of them is the close proximity to President Petro Poroshenko, who continues to build a vertically integrated structure of personal control over all the more or less valuable assets of Ukraine. True, after cleaning up strangers and arranging their people, they may no longer be so attractive ...

Dmitry Kiva, general designer of Antonov ASTC (Ukraine, Kyiv), is no longer the head of the enterprise and the team of the well-known aircraft manufacturing concern. The aircraft designer moved to Azerbaijan, the city of Baku, and hopes to develop the aircraft industry there. “Yes, I made that decision. It is completely thoughtful. I hope I will be able to implement aviation projects in the interests of Azerbaijan,” Kiva said. Speaking about the reasons that pushed him to take such a step, he clarified the following: “... My position at the Antonov ASTC was simply abolished ... According to my information, this was done at the direction of the“ high authorities ”. So I just didn't have any other choice."

Under the leadership of Dmitry Kiva, Ukrainian aircraft manufacturers created the military transport An-70 and An-178, the passenger An-148, An-158, An-140. Kiva has been in charge of Antonov since the second half of the 2000s, and has worked at the enterprise since the 1960s.

In an interview with the Ukrainian newspaper The Day, Kiva bluntly stated that the president of the country made the decision regarding him. “The first person of the state ... He personally came to the Antonov State Enterprise to represent the new leader. And then they told me: “This is his instruction - to remove you ...”

Attacks on the leader of the Ukrainian aircraft industry began during the existence of the Ministry of Industrial Policy in Ukraine, to which the Antonov State Enterprise was subordinate, and continued using various means even when the Ministry of Industrial Policy was liquidated and the aircraft industry was transferred to the jurisdiction of the Ministry economic development and trade, and later - into the system of the state concern "Ukroboronprom".

Interview with Dmitry Kiva

“Revolution of Dignity,” said Dmitry Kiva, “I took it positively and with enthusiasm, expecting that the new government will change the state of affairs in the country for the better. But somehow (it was in 2014) I was summoned to the Ministry of Industrial Policy and was very surprised, saying that, they say, an order had been received to relieve me of the post of president - general designer of the Antonov state enterprise.

“At first I even thought they were joking: after all, at that time Antonov was the best in the domestic aircraft industry in all respects and one of the best enterprises in the Ukrainian capital. But it turned out that the proposal is not a joke. I was asked to write a letter of resignation own will. Since I had no desire to quit, I refused to write such a statement.”

“Later,” continues Dmitry Semenovich, “I managed to find out that the initiative for my release came from the then Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk. What motives he and others officials who sought to implement my dismissal, while being guided, I don’t know. But strong pressure began to be exerted on me from different sides: they summoned me for interrogations to the Prosecutor General's Office, connected investigators from the military prosecutor's office, and other law enforcement and control agencies - apparently, they wanted to find at least some compromising evidence and crime.
At the same time, the investigators put pressure not only on me, but also on some members of my family: they “questioned” my eldest son, my wife, and even her father and mother (who live in Nikopol). However, although such "search" now and then turned out to be futile, they did not stop. Somehow one of those who conducted the investigation hinted: there is an order from above. In parallel with all this, a competition was announced for filling the position of the head of the Antonov State Enterprise, for which I applied - given that the current contract was ending.

“I had to,” adds Dmitriy Kiva, “to visit the Administration of the President of Ukraine, where I spoke with one of its senior officials about the investigations that were being conducted. And there I was told that when I apply for resignation, everything will stop. Since I did not agree to such proposals, - continues Dmitry Semenovich, - they decided to implement the issue of my release in judicial order. But this turned out to be in vain: the court refused to release the plaintiffs.”

“In addition, I note that I am not only a veteran of the aircraft industry, but also a veteran of the enterprise where I worked for more than half a century. Therefore, my dismissal required the consent of the trade union committee (which, given the position of the team, he would not have given). And let me also remind you that, in addition to the position of president - general designer of the Antonov State Enterprise, I had another title assigned at one time by the government of Ukraine: general designer for the creation and modernization of aviation equipment, and this assumed my functions as " Antonov”, and on the scale of the entire domestic aircraft industry”.

“After that,” says Dmitry Semenovich, “no matter how neither the investigators nor the judicial options for pressure gave the consequences desired for those forces that at any cost sought to relieve me of the post of head of the enterprise, they decided to go the other way: they divided the position of president - general designer of the State Enterprise "Antonov" for two.

“I was told that I would be engaged in a purely design sphere, coordinating the creation of aircraft (at present, the company was testing the new transport An-178 and began to build a prototype transport An-132), and administrative and managerial functions, including organizational and financial issues, they say, will go to other people. So I had to agree to this.”

“I told the new management that came to the Antonov State Enterprise that I would try to help them - and I was sincerely ready to do just that. However, it soon became clear that the new managers of the enterprise were not at all interested in my advice or recommendations arising from my extensive experience and deep knowledge of the specifics of the aircraft industry.

“Those who have been the leaders of Antonov since June 2015,” says Dmitry Kiva, “may be good managers. However, neither by education nor by experience previous work had nothing to do with the creation of aviation technology and aircraft construction. But this high-tech industry is a specific and rather complex area of ​​activity, so decisions made in it must be based on high professional competence, which, unfortunately, the new management of Antonov does not have.”

So, is it really not clear that in order to sell aircraft on the world market, these products must be competitive there, and in order to create such aircraft, you need to know a lot.

By the way, at one time something similar was done in Russia, where such well-known design bureaus in the world of aircraft construction as Tupolev, Ilyushin and Yakovlev, which for many years of their activity were headed by experienced aircraft designers, replaced such leaders with managers who were not aircraft designers.

Therefore, the efficiency of those illustrious aircraft manufacturing firms has decreased significantly, and as far as the creation of passenger and transport aircraft is concerned, there is a decline there. Unfortunately, in Ukraine they did not take into account the negative experience - and went in a similar erroneous way.

From division of posts to liquidation of one of them

“Although after the reorganization carried out in June 2015, associated with the division of the post of president - general designer of the Antonov State Enterprise into two separate ones,” says Dmitry Kiva, “I, focusing on a purely design area, did not interfere with the new management of the enterprise, however , as it turned out, I was simply deceived, because the division of posts was not the last action aimed at eliminating me from Antonov. So, from October 1, 2016, the position of the general designer, who coordinates and directs all this, was eliminated at the enterprise, which combines the creation of new aviation equipment and the modernization of its existing types (and, consequently, design activities) and the production of aircraft.

When asked how and when Dmitry Semenovich was told that the position of general designer was canceled at the Antonov State Enterprise, he replied:

“Two months before that, the management of Antonov announced that from October 1, 2016, in agreement with the state concern Ukroboronprom, the position of general designer was being eliminated at our enterprise. And when the said two-month period expired, an appropriate order was issued and the personnel department acquainted me with it and offered to sign it.

“When I refused to sign the order without providing any proposals, I was given a list of vacancies available at the enterprise. It contains positions of design engineers, technologists, etc. and even the position of head of one of the sectors. Knowing well that such proposals in relation to me are purely formal, I took in the personnel department work book. And although the dismissal in this way was not only incorrect, but, in my opinion, illegal, but I said that I would not sue on this matter.

“During the time that has passed since the appointment of the new management of Antonov State Enterprise, and to this day, as a result of a number of structural transformations, new divisions have appeared at the enterprise and, accordingly, their new leaders,” continues Dmitry Kiva.

“The vast majority of them relate to those whom I refer to as “desk bosses”, who do not create anything specific. In general, the number of such people accepted under the new leadership, who have nothing to do with the aircraft industry, was about 200.”

“At one time,” recalls Dmitry Semenovich, “We initiated the accession to us of the ailing Kyiv aircraft building plant Aviant, which became a serial plant of our state-owned enterprise. Despite significant economic difficulties (associated with the fact that Antonov - with a 100% state ownership - did not receive funding from the State Budget of Ukraine from year to year), mass production of aircraft was nevertheless established, although for obvious reasons in a relatively small amounts."

“But for those 16 months (from June 2015 to October 2016), during which Antonov has a new management, the rate of production of serial production aircraft is, unfortunately, zero. You can give some more numerical parameters to compare the effectiveness of Antonov's leadership of different times, ”says Dmitry Kiva. – “In June 2015, when I was dismissed from the position of President of the Antonov State Enterprise (left as the General Designer), our company not only had no debts, but also had a lot of funds in various currencies in its accounts, equivalent to more than 54 million US dollars ".

“But when on October 1, 2016 I was forced to leave Antonov altogether, then, as far as is known, the accounts of the enterprise (which, I remind you, since June 2015 has been headed by a new management) had only about 4 million US dollars in foreign currency, that is, 50 million less than it was 16 months before.”

“I believe,” notes Dmitry Kiva, “that a deliberate destruction of the domestic aircraft industry is currently being carried out. I don’t know who exactly needs this, but I am convinced that certain forces - and not only in our country, but also abroad - are striving to eliminate such a high-tech industry in Ukraine as the aircraft industry (and not only it alone), and turn our state into some kind of raw material appendage.”

Why does Antonov need the Ukroboronprom concern?

In 2015, a little earlier than the division of the post of President - General Designer of the Antonov State Enterprise into two separate ones, this enterprise, like some others in the aircraft industry, was transferred from the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade to the system of the state concern "Ukroboronprom". Therefore, during an interview with Kiva, I asked him how he assesses such a resubordination.

Answering this question, Dmitry Semenovich described the transfer of Antonov to Ukroboronprom as negative in its results. In general, he assessed the Ukroboronprom concern as a useless and unnecessary organization for the state, without which Antonov State Enterprise (and not only this enterprise) could well do without.

Indeed, after such a reassignment to Antonov, which has hundreds of business partners in the creation, modernization and construction of aircraft - suppliers of the most components - and all this in each case, like every financial payment, must be coordinated with Ukroboronprom, which leads to many unnecessary procedures and considerable loss of time.

Dmitry Kiva also noted that such requirements of Ukroboronprom with approvals are a violation of the current legislation on state enterprises, because the law prohibits any interference in their economic activities.

“And the negative aspects of relations with Ukroboronprom are far from the only problem for Antonov,” Dmitry Kiva notes. – “Another knot of existing difficulties concerns aircraft engines, which are equipped with aircraft with the An brand name.”

These engines are mainly created in Zaporozhye, where their production is carried out joint stock company Motor Sich. According to a long tradition and guided by the desire to support domestic manufacturers, Antonov purchased Zaporozhye engines for the aircraft he created. But over time, the stringent requirements of the global aviation market forced us to certify our aircraft according to European or American standards (JAR and FAR) - and we managed to do a lot in this direction.

However, it is not possible to certify an aircraft without proper certification of the engines it is equipped with. And Motor Sich engines do not have such European or American certificates, which becomes a noticeable brake on the promotion of Antonov products to the world market. Therefore, it is necessary for some newly created aircraft - in particular, for the An-132 transport aircraft currently under construction at the Antonov State Enterprise for Saudi Arabia, to provide - at the request of customers - duly certified Western-made engines, which, of course, causes dissatisfaction among the management of Motor JSC Sich.

“By the way,” Dmitry Semenovich adds, “I think that the question of the expediency in the future of replacing the current D-18T engines of Zaporozhye production with certified according to Western-made engines to European or American standards.”

Although such replacements will require certain financial costs, they should pay off within two years - primarily due to a decrease in fuel consumption compared to the D-18T and an increase in the range of Ruslan non-stop flights with cargo.

Kyiv - Baku: one way ticket?

At the end of our conversation, we asked Kiva's opinion on the likelihood that other specialists of the domestic aircraft industry could follow him on the route from Kyiv to Baku. Answering this question, he said that he does not exclude the possibility of such a development of events if the situation in this area in Ukraine does not change for the better.

History of layoffs

It should be noted that Dmitry Kiva was squeezed out of Antonov a long time ago, since April 2014, that is, exactly after the completion of the coup d'état. And this is not the first time he loses the position of general designer.

On April 15, 2014, the media reported that the government had dismissed Dmitry Kiva from the post of chairman of the board of the Antonov State Aircraft Building Concern, which he had held since 2008. Kiva himself then clarified that no one coordinated the dismissal with him and he learned about it from the news on the Internet. The position of the general designer of the enterprise for Kiva was then retained.

Then, 11 months later, the enterprise was transferred to the control of the Ukroboronprom concern (formerly the Ministry of Economic Development of Ukraine). After that, in mid-June, the media reported the dismissal of Dmitry Kiva from the post of general designer. This time, the decision was made by the leadership of Ukroboronprom, to which Antonov was subordinate. “The decision to dismiss was made by Ukroboronprom, since the concern is now management company"Antonov". Gvozdev's first working day as acting president - general designer was on Saturday, June 13, ”the department director said then. information policy"Ukroboronprom" Lukyan Selsky to UNIAN news agency. However, later Ukroboronprom clarified that Kiva had lost only the post of president of Antonov, and the position of general designer was retained for him. Mikhail Gvozdev (People's Deputy from the Petro Poroshenko Bloc, work experience - deputy of the Khmelnytsky Regional Council, manager of companies that traded imported cars) became the President.

The plant changed not only subordination, there was a rather serious revision of its place in the structure of Ukrainian industry, connections, etc. So, in June, Ukroboronprom announced that from a number of enterprises transferred to its management, the concern formed the Ukrainian Aircraft Corporation, the central part of which was Antonov. “In addition to Antonov, the corporation included PJSC UKRNIIAT (development of software, forecasting and analytical materials and normative documentation in the field of aircraft engineering, process design aircraft and aircraft manufacturing enterprises), State Enterprise "Novator" (manufacture of on-board radio-electronic, radar, radio navigation equipment for aviation and aerospace industries), State Enterprise "Kharkovsky machine building plant"FED" (high-precision fuel and hydraulic control equipment for the aerospace industry), State Enterprise "Kharkov Aggregate Design Bureau" (development and manufacture of units for hydraulic, fuel and electrical systems of aviation and rocket technology) and PJSC Plant "Mayak" (produces on-board equipment for voice information, ground-based recording devices)… The aircraft manufacturing cluster will make the Ukrainian aviation industry the only powerful mechanism with clear development coordination, integrate deeper into the global market and introduce international standards… The main advantage of the cluster is that, by uniting, enterprises have general planning serial production, a single procurement center for materials and components, a unified marketing of products and sales support,” the press service of the concern reported.

Finally, in October 2016, it became known about the liquidation of the post of general designer of Antonov. That is, purely formally, no one fired Kiva, his position simply ceased to exist. Some sort of downsizing. According to the law, in this case, Ukroboronprom had to offer him to take a position in the concern corresponding to his competence (if there were vacancies).

“Since the position has been liquidated, formally I have nothing to do. I was offered a list of positions to choose from, starting with a technician, a designer. The highest position is the head of the sector ... I said that I would not sue. If so, if I am not needed, then I wrote a statement and went, ”the designer himself comments.

prospects

The Zerkalo Nedeli publication clarifies that Kiva’s decision to move to Azerbaijan had already matured at the time of the liquidation of his position: “... He plans to work in Azerbaijan and, it is possible, will be able to influence the implementation of a solid project to transfer production technology of a new military transport vehicle to this country - An-178. Like in the 90s foreign economic activity, and in particular the transfer of An-140 production technology to Iran, saved the Antonov company, and now this major project can become a fresh wind in the sails and allow the company to develop. By the way, it was Dmitry Kiva who led the negotiations on both the Iranian and Azerbaijani projects,” the publication wrote at the time.

According to Chief Editor newspapers Delovoy Donbass Gennady Berezovsky, Kiva was removed from the leadership of Antonov in order to eventually sell the most valuable patents abroad, and to Ukrainian business - the territory of the plant near the Svyatoshyn metro station in Kyiv (for residential development). Considering that Antonov's plans included the development of joint production of aircraft in Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan, the elimination of the position of general designer may mean the beginning of such an operation. Whether Kiva participates in it or not (most likely not) - time will tell. In any case, the probability of migration of technologies and specialists when the general designer moves to another country is a matter of time.

Kiva, in one of his interviews, argued that the greatest value of the enterprise, which until recently he led, was not even patents, but the team that he managed to save. Now part of this team may well go after their designer. Moreover, the circumstances are “favorable”: for two months now, production at Antonov has stopped

As previously reported, in September 2016, Antonov suspended the production of aircraft due to the lack of necessary parts previously supplied from the Russian Federation.

“The lack of cooperation with Russia on aircraft did not make life easier for Antonov ... Now, even if we really wanted to produce an aircraft, we have a number of unfinished machines that are in the shops, we need to replace all Russian components with components from other manufacturers, we will not to say that they are necessarily Western, they can also be Ukrainian, ”the deputy head of the department explained on the air of Vesti radio promising developments GP "Antonov" Andrey Khaustov. According to him, the resumption of production is expected no earlier than 2017, when the company manages to find a replacement for the necessary parts.

Recall that at the end of August 2016, the Chinese television channel CCTV announced the sale of the Antonov State Enterprise to China. The company then denied this information, although they admitted that there were negotiations with the Chinese side, and their goal was an agreement on the construction of the second copy of the An-225 at the first stage and serial production at the second.

“Part of the documentation has already been sold to the Saudis - for easy passenger aircraft), some - to the Chinese, for heavy vehicles, ”reminds political expert Yuri Gavrilechko. “And really, why then the general designers? And why does the “great agrarian power” need the production of aircraft at all?” - asks the political scientist.

"Money. Only money. That is, from the very beginning, both Yatsenyuk and Groysman, they always said: we need to gain control over financial flows, because we do not quite understand where the money goes. Because this is a state-owned enterprise, and the state, without investing a penny, is constantly pumping money out of this enterprise, and also demands that they make planes. And they make planes, however, this year there was a crisis of this pumping out, this year they will hand over as much as one plane, ”the expert said, speaking about the reasons.

Konovalov also noted a completely indecent thing about the transition of Kiva to Azerbaijan.

“The fact is that Azerbaijan signed a contract for the An-178 a year ago, that we will supply them with a military transport aircraft. And they told us: okay, you will deliver, but you still create some kind of localization of production for us, so that we make at least part of the aircraft in Azerbaijan. Therefore, Kiva, it turns out, can blackmail Antonov Design Bureau with his presence there, because he is like a partner on that side, and if the new leadership of Ukroboronprom, which is now in charge of Antonov Design Bureau, does not agree with him, then very interesting things,” the expert predicts.