Russia's ailing aviation industry must boost its competitiveness on the international market and depend more on private investment and less on state support, President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday. The civilian industry's flagging performance contrasted sharply with Russia's strong position as a military aviation exporter, Putin said during a session of his advisory State Council held Tuesday at the Central Aerodynamic Institute in Zhukovsky, a town just outside Moscow. "It's impossible to depend exclusively on protectionist measures in the struggle for the market," Putin was quoted as saying by ITAR-Tass news agency. "It's a sure way toward the stagnation and lower quality of one of the high-tech domestic production areas." The "low attractiveness" and "level of comfort" offered by Russian airlines cannot compete on the world market, including in former Soviet republics, Putin was quoted as saying by Interfax news agency. Russia once was one of the biggest civilian aircraft manufacturers, with an annual output of more than 700 aircraft accounting for 25 percent of the world's civilian fleet. But the aviation industry has declined in recent years, employing less than a third of its original 1.5 million work force, according to the Industry and Energy Ministry. More than 75 percent of Russian planes were inherited from the Soviet Union, Yuri Koptev, who heads the ministry's military-industrial department, said last summer. If they are not replaced, the industry could face a crisis as early as 2006 or 2007 as aircraft become antiquated. "Private investments can and should be given access to the aviation industry," Putin said, according to Interfax, and he called on aircraft manufacturers to fix their sights on the world market.
