Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev suggested on Monday waiving import duties on planes with total capacity of 72 seats until Russia sets up its own production.
“We should think about the abolition of customs fees for passenger planes with up to 72 seats for a limited time period and for a certain number of aircraft until we establish our own production of planes,” Medvedev said at a government commission for economic development of Eastern Siberia and the Far East.
The prime minister also said that demand for such planes to provide transport links to remote areas in the regions was very high taking into account the age of the current small capacity air fleet and high retirement of such aircraft.
In January, then-Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said that the Russian government would provide annual subsidies worth a total of one billion rubles ($32 million) for 82 regional air companies over the next three years to guarantee transport links with remote areas.