OREANDA-NEWS. The Russian government has allocated more than $831.5 million for the development of the Russian medium-haul passenger aircraft MS-21. This was announced by Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin at a meeting with deputy prime ministers. According to Mishustin, the money should go to the development of components for the MS-21, as well as for further after-sales service of the Russian aircraft.

«On behalf of the president, we will allocate an additional more than 61 billion rubles to carry out development work on the MS-21 project, as well as import substitution of components, production and after-sales service of aircraft <...> All this will allow us to establish a stable load of domestic enterprises, form our own fleet of aircraft, the necessary infrastructure and open up opportunities and prospects for the industry, including export ones», Mishustin said.

Earlier, Mikhail Mishustin, during his speech at the New Knowledge forum, said that nothing comparable to the MS-21 aircraft («Mainline aircraft of the XXI century») will appear in Russia's competitors in the near future. The MS-21 is positioned as a competitor to the European Airbus A320 and the American Boeing 737. Rostec has completed the assembly of the first aircraft in the fall of 2020. In December, the MS-21 took to the air for the first time.