RUSSIAN TOP PROSECUTOR LASHES OUT AT RUSSIAN AIRLINES OVER SAFETY CONCERNS

MosNews, Russia
Oct 3 2006

The Prosecutor General said Monday that Russian airlines use fake
and substandard parts and operate without the necessary safety and
security checks, Russian news agencies reported.

The comments by Yury Chaika came after a slew of crashes this year
that have claimed more than 400 lives and cast a harsh light on the
decrepit state of many of the nation’s airlines, The Associated Press
reports. "Flight security is extremely poor," Chaika was quoted
as saying by the Itar-Tass news agency. "The aircraft accidents,
which have lately become increasingly frequent, engender fears in
our society and distrust of the Russian air carriers. They greatly
impair the country’s prestige too," he said.

In August, a Tu-154 jet belonging to Pulkovo Airlines crashed in
Ukraine after encountering a storm, killing all 170 people aboard. In
July, an Airbus A310 belonging to airline S7 skidded off a runway and
burst into flames in the Siberian city of Irkutsk, killing 124 people.

An A320 belonging to the Armenian airline Armavia crashed into the
Black Sea while trying to land in the resort city of Sochi in May,
killing all 113 people aboard.

Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov called for tougher legislation
to regulate the nation’s many airlines, many of which lack the cash
to overhaul their Soviet-era fleets.

"We must start work to enlarge companies or create alliances, as well
as enshrine in law the responsibilities of the aviation industry,
repair plants and airlines," he was quoted by the RIA-Novosti news
agency as saying.

In an effort to upgrade Russia’s pool of antiquated aircraft VAT
needed to first be reduced on domestically made planes, after which
customs duties needed to be cut on models that aren’t made in Russia,
Ivanov said.

"First the domestic industry, then the imports," he said. Ivanov
called for cutting out the intermediary companies selling parts and
recommended raising payouts to crash victims to a minimum $75,000
(euro59,125).

Ivanov – who is also defense minister and was appointed to oversee
air safety in August – said that companies were turning a blind eye to
safety violations, in an effort to keep costs down. "Sometimes matters
of business, of commercial gain, are put before air safety," he said.

Transport Minister Igor Levitin, meanwhile, targeted corrupt officials
under whose aegis struggling and decrepit airlines are able to
continue operating, despite the violations. "In the course of the
inspection it became clear that competing firms are using illicit
tactics bordering on the criminal," he was quoted as saying by the
NTV television channel. "This is taking place under the control of
negligent officials," he said.