OREANDA-NEWS Russian small aircraft "Baikal" and "Ladoga" may begin to assemble in Belarus. Denis Manturov, the head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, made such a proposal to the republic, Dmitry Krutoy, the Ambassador of Belarus to Russia, told RIA Novosti.

Negotiations on the potential start of production will be held at the Innoprom exhibition in Yekaterinburg from July 10 to 13. The ambassador called the opportunity to assemble Russian aircraft a "new part of the economy" of Belarus.

The Baikal plane is designed for 9 passengers, the Ladoga holds 44 passengers. The Russian authorities assume that the LMS-901 Baikal will replace the outdated An-2 light multi-purpose aircraft, known as "cornhuskers". Ladoga is designed to replace the fleet of obsolete state aviation and regional airlines liners of both Soviet (AN-24, AN-26B-100, Yak-40) and Western (Dash 8-200, Dash 8Q-300, ATR-42) designs.

The first flight of the Baikal with a fully Russian VK-800SM engine is scheduled for 2024. In March 2023, a number of media outlets reported that the new Russian passenger aircraft Baikal are not suitable for transporting people and are created solely for reporting, since there are no engines necessary for them in the country. Domestic specialists are forced to use foreign-made engines, which are not enough for passenger transportation. The next day, Russia called this message unreliable.